Paving the Road
by maxcron
Summary: James has known since he was a child that not all powers are super. However one day his best friend convinces him to go out and be heroes. Things seem to go their way until they don't and James begins to learn how the world works for those who aren't super. Male!OC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **Okay I want to make this short so here it goes. First things first this is my first time writing a story and English isn't my first language so any criticism (preferably constructive but I take any kind as long as you aren't rude) and corrections are welcome. This story was born after reading many Worm fics where Taylor got a power from a character of another universe and I decided to try the opposite where a character from another universe gets a Worm power only this is an OC not a preexisting character. For those of you who read Worm James has Numberman's power if you haven't read Worm then go read it it's certainly better than anything I could write if you're still here then don't mind the Worm bits because you don't need to know anything about it.**

 **This is the important part: This wont be an OC+Team story simply because I didn't think I'd be able to write a good interesting story with that premise. The team will appear eventually.**

 **PD: I'm looking for a Beta or at least someone to bounce ideas off.**

I smiled as I walked out of Math class with Zack next to me, finally freed from the terrors of infinite boredom. Playing dumb was better than being the math prodigy for making friends, but every time I had to get into that class I seriously started to question whether it was worth the effort. We were now walking through the dirty unmaintained halls of Star City High, that's what I get for going to a public school, and I had 227.8679 meters before reaching my next class. No idea where Zack was going.

"Aghhh" He exclaimed "I can't believe that that old hag gave us that much homework on top of the test we have next week."

He was referring to Ms. Smith our math professor. Actually the workload wasn't so bad, but Zack isn't exactly the brightest student in the school. Sadly neither I am, that honor went to someone else.

"It's not so bad. The homework is more tedious than anything else. And you know she never checks homework when it's test day so you can treat it as practice for the test if you want."

"Of course you'd say that. You always get perfect scores in the tests even though you're the last one to finish in class! Seriously dude if you are cheating the least you could do is to give me the answers too."

Again with that. Zack somehow had latched on to the idea that I was cheating in every subject from Physics to Math. I find it odd that he hasn't noticed that my test scores got higher the more numbers were involved into the test.

"I'm not cheating. And the reason I take so long in class is because I like looking out of the window."

"I feel you bro anything is more interesting than that old hag. Anyways you coming to practice this afternoon? " He changed the subject. "The coach has been asking about you."

I couldn't help but think that the coach had specifically told him to ask me about training. A good man, the coach, but I was leaving the basketball team and I wouldn't change my mind.

"Dude I already told you I'm leaving the basketball team."

"C'mon James I thought it was a joke. You can't seriously leave. You are the best shot in the team and next year they'll probably start scouting you."

"Which is exactly why I left. I don't want to be a professional player and somebody else on the team could take advantage of a scholarship a lot more than me. Someone like you."

"Yes, except we will start losing if the guy that scores every time he throws the ball leaves." He wasn't exaggerating it was extremely easy for me to calculate the trajectory of my throws. "And then good bye to scouting."

"Sorry but no." I was getting closer to my next class, but had no idea where Zack had to go. "Hey what's your next class?"

"Art." So that's why he always walked with me; art was very close to geography which was my next class.

We kept talking as we walked and not before long we turned around a corner and there she was. Casey Williams was my childhood friend and overall my best one. Standing at 170.3789 cm and with a carefully uncombed mop of blond and pink dyed hair she was wearing some ragged jeans and a cheap second hand military jacket and I'd bet anything that underneath she had a shirt with something that would get her sent to the principal's office if she took her jacket off. I could feel a smile appearing in my face as a frown appeared in Zack's.

"James please tell me you aren't going to talk to the weirdo." And also it happened that my best friend wasn't very liked around school, meaning the popular crowd and the faculty, usually that'd mean that I got the same treatment for being around her so much but being the star, not anymore though, of the basketball team helped in that regard.

"Zack you know she is my best friend. I won't make you talk to her, but please don't be a jerk." I had conciliatory attitude about the subject. I mean Casey was my best friend but she liked to irritate people a little too much and had a rebel sort of thing going on so I kind of understood both sides here.

"Aright I won't start anything, but I don't promise anything if she does."

She probably will, but the important bit was not to provoke her. Casey had already noticed us and was waving at me to come closer. Zack chose to leave instead of staying.

"See you later James." Zack then turned a little to the left and walked past Casey. Unfortunately Casey took notice of that and decided to provoke him.

"What's up Idiot can't handle so much intelligence together that you had to leave?"

"Watch it weirdo everyone knows that-"I decided to cut him off and defuse the situation.

"Stop Zack! Go to art already" I ordered him

"What? But she-"

"Yes I know, I know. Just go."

With an exasperated look Zack threw his hands up in the air, turned around and left. Meanwhile Casey was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Hahahahaha" she laughed "Did you see his face? The idiot thing totally triggers him."

She was right Zack was a nice guy but a little slow in the uptake and he knew it. However I wasn't happy with what she did and it could be seen in the frown in my face.

"Cass could you please not try to anger everyone you talk to?"

"Hey Jay it's not my fault if they are idiots. And why do you hang out with him anyway?"

"Zack might not be the smartest guy around but everyone is an idiot if you compare them to us."

And it was true right now I was talking to the number one student and delinquent in Star City High with as many A's as skipped school days, the faculty still didn't like her though. As for me well let's just say that as long as it involved numbers no one would best me.

"Us? Sorry but you might be getting a little arrogant mister B in History." She tried to provoke me.

"Arrogant eh? So you want another Math tutoring session? I believe we left off at geometrical shapes in four axes planes." I countered with a smirk

"No please not! You know I can't handle that evil and wrenched subject!"

We both laughed at that. Casey was a nice person she just insisted on being a hard to handle rebel. It was at that point that we entered the classroom and sat next to each other as we talked for the remainder of the break.

"Soooooo" She started saying. "Have you thought about my Idea?"

"What Idea?" I asked with a puzzled expression. In reality I knew what she was talking about and that I'd end up reluctantly agreeing to it but I wanted to delay it as much as possible, maybe she would get an attack of common sense and drop it.

"You know what idea." She looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "My idea to be Heroes."

"Ah that idea. No."

"No what?"

"No, I won't do it. It's crazy and it's the most dangerous idea you've ever had."

"C'mon it's not so bad. We'll just patrol a little and beat up some criminals. You know common thieves, muggers, rapers. We will be fine we got powers."

There was the center of this whole conversation. Casey seemed to be under the delusion that we both had superpowers. We didn't, we were just geniuses. So what if I saw and understood the complex mathematical and mechanical equations that governed the world around us every time I opened my eyes. So what if Casey had perfect muscular and mental memory, which let her learn things that would take months of practice and didn't need to sleep. Those weren't superpowers flying was, invulnerability was, bench pressing a car was. And if ours were superpowers they weren't exactly hero material, we couldn't shrug off a bullet wound. But Casey didn't seem to get it.

"No we don't. And even if we did a bullet would still kill us. Can you please rethink this?"

"You worry too much. I know martial arts and you don't need them. I've sparred with you and you win most of the time."

67% of the time actually, but that's not important. Casey may know martial arts from her part time job at a Gym but that wouldn't help her against a gun and I told her so.

"That still won't help against a gun."

"Don't worry I learnt what to do against guns in the gym. Nothing bad will happen. Batman and Green Arrow don't have powers and they are fine."

"True but we don't have their gadgets. And you know what I think about heroes anyway."

"Yes, I know but that's only in regards to supervillains not against common thugs" She was right but I had been hoping that she wouldn't notice the hole in my argument because it was the last one I had. "Look I'm gonna do it on Friday whether you come or not."

"Friday? Don't you think it's a little too soon?"

"It's never too soon to be a hero."

Something was wrong Casey was rushing this too much and she wasn't one for cheesy lines. I had an idea of what was really happening here.

"Cass… Did you have another fight with your mom?"

Casey didn't really have a good home life and her Mom wasn't exactly parent material. Fights with her were very common and sometimes Casey did stupid things in the fallout.

"No, this isn't about her it's about me." She may be saying no, but her refusal to make eye contact told me everything I needed to know.

"Cass what if you spent a few nights in my house and then we can think about this better. You know my parents wouldn't mind having you over." I knew she would refuse, but I had to try.

"I know but I don't want to bother your parents anymore and you know I don't like your bitch sis." My step sister and Casey never got along but that hadn't stopped her from staying before. No, she wasn't staying because she knew I'd dissuade her from this if I had more time.

"Okay I'll do it." I gave in. I knew Casey a day and a half should be enough to make her recover reason before she makes a mistake. And if she didn't then that was why I'd go with her, to slap some sense into my best friend if needed. Ah the perils of being a good friend.

"Wait seriously?"

"Yes, you are going to do it anyway and I'd rather be there in case anything goes wrong. And besides you need my common sense."

"Nothing is going to go wrong you'll see. And I've got plenty of common sense."

I was about to answer with a witty rebuttal but I shut up because the teacher entered the classroom and started giving class.

The break was over.


	2. Chapter 2

Introduction. 2

I walked out of my last class as fast as possible and tried to maneuver around all the other freedom deprived teenagers leaving the school for the day. It was still Thursday so we all had to come again tomorrow, but any period of rest was enough for these people. I made a few quick calculations in my head, nothing exact just approximations, and decided that taking my books home with me would be better than putting them back in the locker. With this being the last period Casey had probably cut school so I wouldn't see her; it didn't matter much since she had to go work and that was the opposite way than my house, but I didn't have much to do and walking her to her job wasn't a bad way of spending time.

It was with those thoughts in mind that I exited the building and started jogging home. Actually I lived pretty far from school; 2.4 km separated it from my house, but since I wouldn't be playing basketball anymore I decided that jogging would be a good replacement instead. Also my sister took the bus and I didn't feel like talking to her and her friends right now.

I opened my backpack and grabbed a rope I had packed there specifically for this and tied it around my torso and backpack since I already knew that no amount of fiddling with the straps would stop it from flailing around. Even with the rope holding it in place the bag was still a little annoying, but this was the best way to tie it; and I knew because I had went over all the possibilities, so I started jogging. Taking into account the traffic lights it would take me at least 30 minutes to get home at my speed, maybe I would push it a little and arrive at 27.

I didn't think about much as I jogged, thinking was something to be done consciously and jogging was a chore to be done on auto pilot, it was a moment when I could just let my mind relax. Ideally I would have my earbuds and some electronic music blasting on them but I had left those at home so the street noise would have to suffice.

I lived in a penthouse located in the edges of downtown, It was one of the safer zones in the City, well that's actually pretty relative; Star City hasn't been really safe ever since the riots a few years back. While I'm sure it was an expensive place; Dad never told me how much money went to the house, but I had looked real estate online in this zone and could make a pretty good guess, my parents could afford it. Dad was a successful divorce lawyer while my step Mom was a Chef in an upper class restaurant.

My musings were cut short as I arrived home and had to untie my bag in order to get the keys. Having opened the door I entered the building and made a beeline towards the elevator where I pressed the topmost floor button. Once there I still had to take a flight of stairs to my home. A smart move from the architect actually, the additional 50 square meters added to the PH by the lack of the space the elevator, a wall, a door and a hall would have occupied increased the value more than what the flight of stairs decreased it.

As I opened the door the sound of chuckling and an overuse of the word "like" warned me that my step sister was already home and talking to a friend in her phone. Why she didn't just text them was beyond me, not that I was complaining every time a sibling discussion of "Why did X get X and I got nothing" happened bringing up the phone bill was my trump card. I waved her hello as I walked to my room in order to leave my bag before getting a shower.

"Hello Sis."

"Shut it loser." Was all the acknowledgement I received from her before she turned around and kept talking to the phone. Wasn't she lovely?

Well she wasn't my problem, at least until Mom and Dad got home and asked how she had done in last week's math test. Then I'd be forced to and I quote "Be a good brother and help your sis with her math." Which basically meant that I'd spend a good two hours banging my head against a wall while teaching math to its equivalent. I could already feel the headache building up. But now wasn't the time to worry about such things now it was time to take a hot relaxing shower.

I left my bag over my bed and headed straight to the bathroom where I undressed leaving my dirty clothes in the bag in the corner of the room meant for them. Before turning on the shower I took a moment to appreciate myself in the mirror. Looking at a grand total of 178.9765 cm and 79.87653 kg of James Morrison I knew I wasn't exactly handsome with no visible muscle mass and a small layer of fat in my torso, brown hair and blue eyes along with some remaining baby fat adorning my face I'd like to think I wasn't ugly either. After spending some time looking at myself and posing for the mirror, something which I'd deny if anyone ever asked me, I decided to get into the shower.

Emerging 25 minutes later from the backroom I went towards my bedroom and picked a pair of baggy pants and an old shirt for comfort and put them on as I turned on my computer. I grabbed my phone and checked the messages while I waited for my PC to finish turning on. Sure enough there were three messages two from Casey and one from the coach, I let the coach's one be for now and looked at Casey's messages instead.

"Hey J." The first one read "I'm skippin classes tomorrow 'cause all my Friday subjects are boring. So we gonna need to text 'bout how we doing IT." The second message was shorter and more recent having been sent five minutes ago. "Damn you in the shower? Call me once you dry off." Deciding that leaving her to her own devices would result in more dangerous ideas from her I called her. The phone ringed for two seconds before she answered.

"Hey J! You read my messages?" Said Casey. I could faintly hear the distinct sounds of the gym in the background. Which meant that she was still working.

"Hey Cass. Are you still in the gym? You've better not be calling me while you work." I said as I started pacing around my room and playing with all the things I left lying around. I doubted that Casey was still working, she was usually very responsible with her work, but when it came to her you could never know.

"Yeah still here, but I'm leaving though. The boss said it was a slow day and let me, more like forced me to really, go early. I think she'd rather just give me the money than let me work for it." Casey's boss was a kind woman and that sounds like something she would do if Casey's pride hadn't demanded that she work for the money. Even then things like this happened every now and then. "Anyways, I already texted you, but I'm ditching school tomorrow. It's too boring and I already know everything they are going to teach already." She did know it. With her perfect memory and having already read the whole schoolbooks at the start of the year the only reasons she went to school as much as she did instead of just ditching was the minimum assistance required to pass the year, me, and angering people.

"Please Cass I know you better than that. You're not going because you will running circles around the room in anxiety for your night plans." I said with a smile as I played with a top I had found. I may not like the idea, but Cass' quirks were always amusing and maybe she would exhaust herself before the night and forget her crazy idea however unlikelier this seemed to be each time we talked again. Maybe she really will do it?

"Two things. One: it's OUR night plans. Two: yeah you're right." She answered sheepishly. "But that isn't why I wanted to talk to you. I needed ask you something. Would rather have a knife or a bat?"

"What!"

"I asked if you wanted-"

"Yes I heard you the first time." I interrupted her." Cass are you mad? How many heroes have you seen using weapons like that? If the police sees us they will think we're a pair of muggers." I hoped such a point would dissuade her from procuring weapons. I was starting to get a little more worried originally I thought that this would be another of Casey's crazy ideas she would dissmiss as time passed, but she seemed to be really set on this.

"Hey I know, but I've been thinking of what you said about us not having Batman's or Green Arrow's gizmos. So I figured we should play it smart and have something prepared. My first thoughts were a Taser or pepper spray, but those aren't cheap." Also she was thinking this too much. It wouldn't be the first time Casey hadn't backed down from a stupid idea, last time things went on until the end and we both got hurt. However this time I'd be sure to draw the line before anything came to pass and if need be I had last time's experience as a precedent.

"You're right. I want the knife." In the end I decided to humor her still thinking that the situation wouldn't escalate past us meeting tomorrow and me dissuading her.

"Okay so what do you think…." In the end we kept on talking for some time, mostly about what was a good idea to do and what not with me subtly trying dissuade her from doing this and make things easier for both of us. Also there was some fantasizing; which I decided to indulge to make her happy, of us becoming famous heroes, well just her I had mixed feelings about it, or meeting with one in our first night, again mixed feelings. Eventually she had to hang up, but we agreed on a place and a time for tomorrow's "adventure"… God help us.

When I finished talking I went to the kitchen to get some water and met with my dad who was about to call me and my sister for dinner. Mom wasn't there because she worked at night, she had left a little before I got out from school. As we sat for dinner Dad asked us about our days in an attempt to make small talk, Marie, the lovely daughter that she was, just mumbled an okay without looking away from her phone. Which meant that I had to pick up the slack conversation-wise.

"Pretty boring." I started." I mean its school so that's normal, but also because I had math and physics today."

"Ah. So numbers still coming easy for you champ?" That was another problem altogether. My dad knew that I was good at math, but not exactly how good. When I was smaller I had been labeled a math prodigy and like all other prodigies I had participated in school competitions, which I'd dominated because while the other kids were good at math I breathed it. In one of those competitions I met Casey and we hit it off pretty fast and became friends, but Casey had her own opinions on prodigies which she explained to me and which I thought were right. Since then I started tuning down little by little by ability with math and now everyone thought I was one of those really smart childs who averaged as they grew up, when actually I only grew smarter as time passed. A good choice too now that I know how that could have gone I think I prefer being a normal teenage boy. Although I always suspected that my dad knew more than what I told him.

"Yeah." Was my answer as I packed some spaghetti into my mouth.

We kept on talking and dining afterwards with a small contribution from Marie every now and then. When we finished I went to my room and worked on my History essay until it was time to go to sleep. All the while very pointedly not thinking about the day tomorrow's morning would bring.

Author's note:  
Not much to say. Next cahpter is gonna bring some action but it may take longer for me to get it posted.  
Still looking for a beta or someone to bounce ideas off.  
Ah something I forgot to say James doesn't have a shard his ability is metahuman in nature.


	3. Chapter 3

Introduction. 3

Friday came and went pretty fast. School was the same as always and I didn't bother paying much attention, Casey would tutor me if necessary. And didn't that thought bring another bunch of troubles just by itself. Apparently my best friend hadn't backed down from her idea since we last talked yesterday, now I was starting to worry. I remembered the last time Casey had thought of something dangerous and went through with it.

It had been a year ago, Casey had had a big fight with her mom, and not a verbal one this time, and a few days later she had come up with the idea of looking for "treasures" in the scrapyard, when I asked what she meant by treasures she said that she meant things that aren't really garbage or that might still be usable. I had dismissed it as another one of her crazy ideas, but two weeks later we found ourselves in the scrapyard looking for I don't know what. Then things went south when we both found out that dogs lived in there, I still suspect that they were guard dogs, we couldn't outrun them so we had to fight them off with some broken sticks that had been at hand. In the end I ended with a bite wound in my forearm and had to be taken to the hospital by my parents, who didn't know what had happened and had been told a lie of a wild dog attacking us in the street, to get some vaccines.

I thought of all this and some more as I walked towards the park near Casey's house where we would meet, I understood why she didn't want to meet at her house. Right now I was wearing my raggiest pair of jeans and an old hoodie, under Casey's instructions since according to her my "rich boy clothes" wouldn't blend in here, and she was right this neighborhood was in the dangerous parts of the city. I reached the park some minutes early and sat in one of the vandalized benches, this thing had gone far enough I'd smack some common sense on Casey by force if I had to, but there was no way I'd let her go looking for criminals to fight. So I waited, once or twice someone would walk nearby and look at me the wrong way but I faked being asleep and looking how I did they must have thought I was homeless. Eventually I saw Casey approaching so I stood up and walked towards her. And I didn't like one bit what she was wearing, her outfit could be best described as a hooker's work clothes or something you would use to go to a very wild night club. Her clothing gave me some clue as to how she planned to find a criminal, well there went my plan of just hoping that we would walk around and find nothing in case I failed to instill some reason into her head.

"Hey Jay." she waved me when she recognized me.

"Hey Cass, look we need to talk about this." I started trying to breach the subject slowly, knowing how this conversation would go.

"Yeah I know." She started and I could feel the relief filling my chest. "We need a plan, but don't worry I already have one, here's your knife by the way." She immediately crushed such hopes while handing me a simple switch blade.

"No, Cass that's not what I'm talking about. Wait where did you get a switchblade?"

"I found it." No, she hadn't. "Look so here's the plan. First we need to find some alley-"

"No Cass, there's no plan we aren't doing this." I interrupted her.

"C'mon Jay you can't be getting cold feet now of all times."

"This isn't cold feet is common sense. Cass this is another one of your crazy ideas which are better left undone."

"No it's not. Dude calm down I got everything planned it'll be alright."

"Like the time with the scrapyard?"

"Hey that was a mishap things like that happen."

"Yes, it was a mishap and I'm trying to prevent it from becoming a pattern. Cass you can't go and do something stupid every time you have a big fight with your mom. I won't always be here to help you out." This was reaching dangerous territory and I knew it, but she wasn't stepping down either.

"This isn't about her! She has nothing to do with this! And you have no right to bring her to this conversation, you think I don't know what this all is about? You're trying to stop me because you're a coward. Every time something happens outside your comfort zone you run away from it. Like with the basketball team and the scouting!" She was shouting now this wasn't going like how I expected.

"Look Cass calm down-"

"I'm not calming down! I'm going and you can stay here or come with me!" With that ultimatum she left.

I stood where I was. I wasn't going to run behind her if she wanted to get herself killed then she could, see if I cared. Yet I found myself running behind her and asking her to wait for me. Damn me and my friendship with this crazy idiot, Zack would never make me go through this.

She angrily explained her plan as we walked. It was a simple plan, we would find an alley and then I would wait there while she walked around acting as a bait with her clothing for any would be mugger or rapist. Once she found someone she would act the part of a scared girl running away while actually leading the guy here where I waited in order to ambush them. I had to admit it was a solid plan and as long as it was a two on one things shouldn't go wrong.

So I waited in the alley with my heart beating so strongly that you could have heard it without a stethoscope. I was scared shitless, intellectually I knew that the plan was good and that we probably wouldn't lose a two on one but my mind wasn't obeying me right now and kept thinking of what would happen if the guy had a gun, or if I got hurt. How would I explain that to my parents?

At some point I had grabbed a broken chair leg that had been in the dumpster with the idea of hitting whoever ran around the corner using his speed against him. As I finally started to calm down I heard the sound of someone running and not to soon Casey came around the corner seeing me with a chair leg. She shouted "Now!" to which I panicked and swung the leg hitting the guy that was running behind her who fell to the ground in pain.

I dropped my makeshift weapon and walked towards my friend when she shouted again.

"There are two more!"

And sure there were two guys with knives running towards the alley. The first one saw his recovering companion and said.

"Ah so you thought that you could find some fools to bait and mug eh? Let us show you how it's done. Ralph you get the boy. I'll be having fun with the girl."

At that the second guy, well third if we counted the one still recovering, charged at me with all the intent to stab me with his knife. It didn't even touch me, I could see it all the speed, maximum reach, energy, force and mass behind the hit. To me it was a simple mechanical equation, so as he attacked I pivoted evading the hit and rose my arm to make it connect with his wrist and as his arm reached its maximum length I pulled along with the stab and twisted his hand outwards. He tried to pull back his arm but it was too late, he needed to deaccelerate his arm and then pull back which was enough time for me to pull forward. With his arm hyperextended I twisted the wrist even more and then pushed it towards the forearm, while using my other hand to grab his shoulder and prevent him from escaping, putting my attacker into a wristlock and making him let go of the knife.

Casey was the one to teach me this one and it was one of the few martial arts moves that I knew. The guy didn't try anything now, he could probably feel how easily breakable his arm was now, not that I would do it, and also pushing his wrist would cause him more pain. I looked towards Casey to see her still fighting with the second guy, who was now knifeless too. I decided to wait for her while my heart returned to a slower rhythm, but when I turned around the first guy had already recovered from my leg chair to the torso and was rushing now towards me.

Panicking I switched the hold on his partner to a hammerlock, putting his arm behind his back and pulling, and used him as an human shield. Guy no.1 stopped his charge and tried to get at me without harming his companion, who unfortunately seemed more comfortable now and freed himself by jumping and giving me a double kick sending us both into the ground. No.1 took advantage of this and started kicking me while I was down and his friend soon joined him. I tried to cover myself in the ground but when that didn't work I timed one of their kicks, grabbed the foot and twisted making him fall and buying me enough time to get up again. The one who hadn't fallen, I didn't remember who was who by now, threw a punch at me, a very telegraphed one like all their other attacks, which I grabbed and then performed a shoulder throw towards the wall made at just the right height to spin him and have him collide upside down. When his friend got up I kicked him in the chest at just the right angle to make him fly a little off the ground and then I turned around and smashed the thrown guy's head against the wall with a back kick. That kick had enough force behind it to cause make his head bounce of the wall but not enough to break it so I stopped worrying about him for now.

I turned towards the other who now I knew again was No.1 since he still had his knife. He slashed downwards at me, but I could see that the slash was just a feint; not enough energy or speed behind it to be a real hit. Instead his leg was accelerating towards me in an attempt for a roundhouse kick to my chest. Seeing this coming I blocked with my forearm, the block was calculated to collide against his extended knee and double as a hit which it did, and followed with a front kick to the head. But he saw it coming and dodged to the left while closing distance trapping my leg above his shoulder, I used this as an advantage and pulled upward with my leg to make my other knee hit his face. This knocked him out, I had been careful to not use enough force to break anything yet he had slashed while I was going up resulting in a cut just above my waist in the left side of my body.

"Ahhh." Fuck it hurt.

"Oh god." Casey said while she walked towards me, she had finished off his guy while I was still fighting. "Dude that doesn't look good." It didn't, it bled. "Lemme call the police while you rest a little and then we'll go to my house and do something about it." She took out her phone and called the police feeding them a story about how she managed to beat a guy that was mugging her by herself, I didn't appreciate the lying but I did appreciate getting left out. She came back and told me that the police would pick these guys up in a few mins, which probably meant half an hour or more, and asked me if I had anything to tie them with, I didn't. In the end we just cut some old clothes we found in the dumpster and used them as improvised ropes, and I say we but actually she did it; I was more worried by my wound.

An hour later found ourselves in her house with me laying in her bed and her attending to my cut, apparently she knew first aid, said her boss had made her take a course back when she started working and then she had learned a little more by herself. She had already cleaned my wound with alcohol and was now closing it with glue and dressing it with some bandages and tape. We were both silent not knowing what to say after the fight, both fights.

"Sorry." She started. "You were right this was dangerous and I knew it and I shouldn't have done it and you got hurt and I don't want you to be mad at me and-"

"I know." Was all I said. "But if you knew all this why did you do it anyways?"

"Well It started a week ago I had a fight with my mom, she said I was useless that I would never amount to anything and for some reason that really made me mad so I stormed out not knowing where to go just that it was anywhere but here. So I was walking and this guy jumps at me and tries to mug me so I beat him up, like we just did with those three, and call the cops. Afterwards I felt better. So from there came this whole Idea."

"So you beat up a guy and released some pent up stress. How does that translate to lets be heroes?"

"It wasn't the therapeutic beating I gave that guy. It was what my mom said that I would never amount to anything and then doing something heroic, making sure that guy went to jail and having one less mugger in the city." She seemed to be romantizing it a little.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how the system works and that still makes no sense. You never paid attention to anything your mother told you. Why start now?"

"Because I believe her." Wait what? "Remember when we first met? We were in a math competition that you ended up winning so I started to lecture you to look smarter. Remember what I said?"

"Not as well as you, but I do. You gave some spiel that all the idiots there would be super child prodigies but they would never become as special as they thought they were once they grew up and would end up as overstressed and overworked idiots trying to be some genius they just couldn't compare to. Or something along those lines. " She kept telling me those things and in the end I agreed with her, If I was really special I would still be when I grew up, If not then why go to so many competitions and work so hard? So I became the average kid I was today and I was happy to have done so, working that much wasn't my thing.

"Well that's how I feel like my life is going."

"What?" I didn't know that.

"I mean I'm smarter than everyone else in the school and I have perfect memory and a learning rate that's just unreal, along with that I don't need to sleep I could just spend the rest of my life awake. Just what the heck I'm doing? I could have three degrees or something like that by now and look at me I just spend every weekday with a bunch of retarded monkeys! It's not just beating guys up, It's doing something with this powers we have!"

"We don't have-"

"Save me that shit! Did you see yourself fight? Dude you were badass! I don't know even know how to begin to describe it! All that comes to mind it's something that boss once said when she saw us sparring. Economy of motion, not one wasted movement and every movement done had a purpose. That shit isn't something normal people do! It should take years of training! And you do it like nobody's business and then call it no powers. Bull. Shit. We should be out there helping people!"

I didn't know she felt like that, and maybe she was right even if we didn't have powers we were able to help people and a good person would do it. But… I didn't feel like it. I liked my life as it was: Normal. Yet I knew that if I couldn't change her mind I would keep doing things like this because I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to her.

"Casey we are just teenagers let the heroes and cops handle those things. It's not our responsibility."

"I know that. But seeing people like Robin or Speedy being heroes while we are just sitting ducks with all of our capabilities. It doesn't feel right. Look I will keep doing this, but I won't drag you into it anymore if you don't want to. What do you want?"

"It's late. Let me consult it with the pillow and I'll tell you tomorrow."

With that I went to prepare myself for the bed even though I already knew what my answer would be.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Here it is! Sorry for the delay but school began and I have been busy with it. I don't have and update schedule but there is going to be at least one every thirty days at least to prevent the thread being locked.**

I didn't actually go to sleep immediately. How could I? After all which happened I was just now coming down from the emotional roller coaster. We had fought three muggers, we could have died, they could have killed us. I was still coping with the number of times a knife came too close to hitting something important. I had been scared shitless but at the same time there was this adrenaline, this emotion or excitement attached to it, to being the winner. This wasn't the first time I felt like that, I mean the excitement not the fear, it was the same way I felt when I had played basketball. I already knew I would always score, but the rush was why I did it, all the complex equations to describe the movements of the player, to analyze them, to predict them; it was a challenge, a way to test my abilities and unlike theoretical math where if I just couldn't figure out a new theorem or how to finish the algorithm I could always keep trying here I didn't have such a luxury, my mind was pressed for answers and those answers had to come as fast as possible. It was a true challenge the same way the fight had been.

Still that wasn't enough of a reason to keep up with this hero thing. If what I wanted was a fight, martial arts and competitions were a thing and a lot safer to boot. Which made all of this come back to Casey. The only and one reason I ever had to do this. And she was doing this because in the end she thought herself special, capable of becoming an hero of the likes of those in the League. I mean only sixteen out of seven billion ever got to that level in the first place. Well actually the league was mostly American in its composition and not all members were humans, and I should also count sidekicks at that. So let's make it fifteen out of three hundred and nineteen million or so. That's around less than one in twenty million chance, give or take some. Actually that was just demographically I'm sure that there are more factors that decide things like that, but for now this will work as a reference.

So one in two million and Casey thought she could be that one. I mean it was stupid, I was sure that the meta-human demographics are more than that and you don't see every other idiot running around in spandex and playing hero or villain. All of them most likely found better uses of their abilities and left the heroing to heroes, like anyone sensible should do. Yet there was a little voice in the back of my mind asking one question that chilled me ' _Could she make it?'_ and an even smaller voice even deeper that went ignored saying _'Can you?'_. If I were to think about it the only hero she could realistically be like was Black Canary. Every other hero has powers, real ones, or some kind of artifact/technology like Green Lantern, Batman or Green Arrow. Even BC had her scream, but Casey had some points in her favor too since in comparison BC lacked her mental abilities or I least I didn't think she had any mental abilities, it would be impossible to know for sure. Actually couldn't Casey just study enough to make gizmos of her own? It wouldn't be a stretch taking into account her abili- You know what lets call them powers. A few quick mental calculations of Casey's learning rate and the time that it usually takes to get a degree and now I know for sure that she could get four on record time and if she chooses those for well they will allow her to make her own tech.

That's great! Now first thing I do once morning comes around, or I wake up whatever happens latter, is to make this suggestion to Casey throw around Green Arrow and Batman as examples of people she could become equal to, start calling our abilities powers for some more convincing and boom. The problem gets kicked down at least four years and five months down the lane, assuming my prediction stay true and that she doesn't skip high school's last two years, and by then she will have forgotten about this, or I would have drifted off in my own direction in life or at least it becomes Future James problem. Ahhhh the joys of procrastination. And with these happy thoughts on my mind I relax and go to sleep; on my back of course, not on my side not till the cut heals at least.

I woke up in pain, apparently going to sleep on your back didn't prevent you from rolling once you were asleep. Of course I tried to keep sleeping, but alas my brain didn't get the memo that my body was tired so I got up and went through my morning routine, or as close as I could with what I had on hand. Having at least brushed my teeth I went to the kitchen see if Casey had already made breakfast.

Indeed Breakfast had been made and there was a very inviting cup of coffee just opposite of Casey and I was pretty sure it had been prepared just to my liking. Well If she was going to bribe me with coffee who was I to say no?

I sat and took a sip of coffee, oh yes this was exactly what I needed I could feel my brain getting out of its morning stupor. I wasn't really awake until I had my morning coffee, I claimed one of the toasts in the table and waited for Casey to start talking as I munched on it.

"Well." She started. "Look I know what you are going to say about last night. Dangerous this, dangerous that, blah blah no powers blah blah, etcetera. But can't you see? We beat those three muggers on our own last night and all we have to show for it is cut. I don't need your powers to know that the benefit is more than the cost."

"First of all, we didn't get a cut I did and god it hurts." She had the decency to look embarrassed at that. "Second what the hell is your endgame here? Beating common thugs who get out back to the streets two hours after?"

"Of course not! I want to become and hero and fight actual villains. Maybe even join the Justice League, that would take some serious work but I'm sure I can get there."

I had to use all my self-control to not slam my hands on the table. "Cass if you say such an Idiocy again I'm walking out of that door. The Justice League? Less than one in twenty million people get there and you think you can? And even if you could the Justice League is a piece of crap! They don't do anything! They are as much a criminal as the foes they face! If they were two bits of the heroes they claim to be they would put the real villains in prisons that can't be escaped or failing that kill them! You really can't be telling me you want to be like them!" Okay I lost my cool, damn and I had such a good argument prepared too. Maybe I would be able to get back to it later.

"Again with that. James they are real heroes. They do what is right not what is easy that's why people put their hopes on them. Superman wouldn't be so liked if he started killing people, and not every prison is made of cardboard there is this new prison Belle Reve It was made for meta-humans and there hasn't been a single escape yet."

"Alright and for one Belle Reve we also have Black Gate and Arkham Asylum both of those may contain normal humans but The Joker for all his powerlessness isn't less undeserving of a hole in his head. Or if you want an example closer to home we also have The Pit."

She paused at that. Of course she would everyone in Star City knew about The Pit. It's existence was pretty recent but it had already generated tons of stories about the evils that crept within. The Pit was a perfect example of what happened when to many people with above human capabilities were trapped in only one prison. No need to break out, just make it theirs.

"Low blow. You know as well as I do that The Pit is more the exception than the rule. I actually researched it once. Do you have any Idea of how many factors had to coincide in order for the pit to exist?"

"It happened once it could happen again."

" No it won't, The Pit happened because Mother Goddess kicked out half of Gotham villain population out of the city and a good number came here while the city had a booming economy. All those villains flourished under it and once the economy receded the riots happened. Most villains were sent to The Pit, which at the time was owned by star labs and used the inmates as legal test subjects, the inmates rebelled and most of the having come from Gotham had good hand with science so they used the technology to take over the prison. See there is no chance of so many factors coinciding again, The Pit is the exception."

I will admit that I didn't know most of that, or at least some of the connections that the events had. Most of what I knew about The Pit was that it was populated by the worse villains in the city and that it was a recruiting ground for any gang that needed to grow in numbers, basically it was like a criminal neighborhood a mile outside the city filled with any kind of villain you could think about. In my imagination it was like one of those pirate cities that you see in novels and such, not much unlike Tortuga in the Pirates of the Caribbean. Of course I knew it wasn't actually like that but that was the image I had of it.

"Okay you are right sorry." This wasn't taking us anywhere I had to shift the conversation away from this subject." But this wasn't what we were talking about. Casey give a good reason to keep doing this hero thing. And I mean a good one that makes sense."

"Because James we may not be able to stop all the crime in the city, or even keep thugs in jail. But even if we keep them out of the streets for one night it makes a difference, you don't know because you live in one of the better parts of the City but just walking around this neighborhood is dangerous. You don't know what it feels like to have to look over your shoulder to make sure that no mugger is following you waiting for his chance, or what it's like to pay protection money to the gangs and mafias here. And yes I do have my own selfish reasons for doing this, and they may be stupid for you but all those people who can't defend themselves, who live in fear, they don't give a shit as to why I'm doing it so long as I do it. And that's why even if all I can do is be a deterrent for common thugs and gangers I will feel I'm doing something with my powers something worth doing, that I'm not useless like my mom said and while I'm at it I will also be someone people will be able to rely on, maybe I won't be an hero at the level of Black Canary or Green Arrow but even if it's just my neighborhood if there is some like that in every neighborhood then it would be enough."

Her words I had no way to describe them. Casey had always been a little rebel, an anarchist, I had never seen her speak with such eloquence. She spoke like those people on tv giving big speeches. But when those people spoke you could set the lies they were spewing when Casey spoke I felt her words as she did. I had never heard her speak like this, she really believed what she was saying, she was filled with conviction. I didn't see this coming, I thought this was another childish fantasy of hers but it wasn't, for her this was everything. She had already decided to live life this way and take it to tis last consequences whatever they may be, I don't know when this had happened but it had. And as her best friend, and probably the only one, I was the only person she had to support her, with that in mind there was only one answer I could give as much as it pained me.

"Alright we will be heroes then." And with that phrase I had already decided that I would give my all to this, for Casey.

I didn't know this then, but later If I had to choose one moment in my life when it all began, a moment which If I traced my life I could say "Here! Here is where it started." This moment would be it.

For better or worse.


	5. Chapter 5

Introduction. 5

In the end and after two hours of pointing to my injured side and complaining I managed to wrangle Cass into an agreement. We would wait some more. This showed that we were clearly unprepared and that we needed to make more arrangements and research. She protested and argued, but finally agreed. Upon hearing verbal confirmation that she would listen to my idea I lost no time in exiting the Wiliams' house. There were no doubts in my mind that my best friend would change her mind in the next twenty minutes, it was better for me to disappear before she tried to discuss again. Cellphones were easily ignored after all.

As I walked I did something that I do every time I'm left alone. I thought. Walking these streets in the daylight after last night put some of the things that Cass had said into perspective. Looking at all these people and trying to imagine their personal problems and hardships. That was too much of a mental and emotional exercise to me. In the end while Cass may have been right and beating a few thugs would be inspiring for some of these people and making them believe that there was still hope or whatever cliché you preferred had almost no significance for me. I simply didn't care like Cass did and doing this hero thing was like trying to empty a pool one drop of water at a time. We may end up filling a bottle, but the pool would still be full and it will all be an exercise on futility in the end. Was I an asshole? Yes. Did that mean I was wrong? No.

In the midst of my internal whining I found myself really close to my house, I ended up receiving some nasty glares from passerbys. Can't blame them really. I was still wearing last night's clothes and while they blended perfectly in Casey's neighborhood here they made me stand out like an eyesore. No matter I had already reached my destination and ascended towards my home.

The first thing that hit me before I opened the door was the smell, fresh pastries made recently. That could only mean two things. Mom was home or my dad had hired a butler. Since we weren't that rich I will assume that Mom was home. I opened the door to find out that I was right. There she stood behind the kitchen counter and with a fresh mug of coffee on her hand, if she was cooking everything was fresh. Standing barely 10.68045 centimeters shorter than me and with a mop of red hair toping her off was Nicole Lavoisse, my step mom. She was currently wearing an apron with the word 'Chef' written on the front.

While I sometimes say step-mom she is actually the only mother I've ever known. My biological mother died during my birth and from what I have understood over the years this wrecked my dad very badly. He met Nicole at some group meeting about single parents his friends made him go when I was five and the rest is history.

I remember asking once about my mom when I was ten or so. Some kids at school had been mocking me for having a step- parent and I was also very curious about my biological mother. I know literally nothing about her, there are no photos, no extended family, no stories, nothing. So I asked Dad, what followed was easily the most awkward half hour in my life which consisted of Dad taking out a chest from under his bed and crying like a baby just when he was about to open it while I stared. Mom, the living one, arrived soon after and later told me that Dad was still a little shaken from my Mom's death. Long story short Dad hadn't got over Mom's death and I stopped caring and learnt not to ask. It wasn't important anyway.

"Did you already have breakfast?" She asked while serving me some coffee. Obviously my answer was irrelevant.

"Yes, but I think I can have some more."

She sat next to me and we had breakfast together as we talked. Dad was apparently out playing golf with his friends and my sister was still sleeping in her room. We both knew she wasn't going to appear before midday.

I felt relaxed, talking with my mom, enjoying breakfast. A few scant moments were I didn't have to worry over Casey. However my coffee mug wasn't endless and eventually I had to excuse myself to my room while my mom cleaned the dishes.

Once in my room I changed into something more comfortable and got to work. I had told Cass that we needed to research a little more and If I didn't come back with some results soon she would do something stupid again. Luck seemed to smile to me this time. Apparently Casey wasn't the only crazy one here or in any major city. It didn't take long for me to stumble upon what I was looking for.

The internet being the place that it was had no shortage of idiots and Casey's variety of idiocy wasn't anything special. As such there were entire online forums dedicated to underground heroing. I opened three tabs for three different forums. One about Star City, one about Gotham and one about Seattle.

My first results weren't anything surprising, contact authorities, don't rush into anything, don't fight people, etc. Common sense. Then I got what I was looking for. Advice.

These forums were full of advice and Ideas although most of these were untested prototypes for gear or seriously doubtful advice. I made a copy of all the law and big text walls that seemed sensible and emailed it to Casey for her to memorize.

Three hours after I was prepared to summarize most of my findings. Most of these forums recommended getting professional gear such as a bullet-proof vest and some martial arts training for starters. On most basic heroing kits things such as first aid kits, knives and zip ties were suggested and most advice not to carry a gun due to the legality problems. On the subject of dealing with criminals provoking them was a bad idea, I instantly emailed that to Cass, and patrols were not as effective, but depending on where you went you would most likely stumble upon crime. On the subject of dealing with criminals they wasn't any consensus. Some said to call authorities and some said to apply violence. What the Star city forums did have and which proved to be invaluable was a list that contained names and badge numbers of suspected crooked cops. That went to Cass for memorization too.

Then the subject on which each forum specialized varied. Star city's forum was full of information on the various underground gangs and criminal organizations along with who you were supposed to avoid, by the looks of it most of our city supervillains had little relation with most of the underworld nowadays with some exceptions. Seattle's forum had a lot of 'heroing associations' which looked a lot like neighborhood watches to me, they said some interesting things but nothing exceptionally useful. Then there was Gotham's forum which other than the occasional rant about crime or the Mother Goddess cult held something a lot more valuable to me. Gear. Most of these were either leaked blueprints too costly for us to make. However there were also some DIY posts. Most of these were considered shabby and useless by the forum goers. While they weren't entirely wrong I had an advantage over most of them. My math knowledge.

This meant that I could check and whether this designs had any real physics behind them and if necessary alter them a little to fit my purposes. Still a lot of things were discarded due to cost of production, lethality and/or pragmatism. In the end I had three things which seemed to fit the bill of what I and Cass needed. For armor I had chosen a very poorly designed knife-proof armor that involved leather clothes filled with old clothes between the seams. Completely useless normally, but with a big enough layer of denim sewed at the right patterns it would become knife proof enough. I posted my redesign and then sent a copy to Casey asking if she knew how to sew. A call from her arrived moments later.

"Hello Cass." I answered tiredly.

"Hey J! What the hell is this? You sent me homework!" Well there was an interesting volume of words in the texts that I had sent her but she should read those.

"They are important Cass. Have you already read them?"

"Well yeah. Have you?"

"No I haven't, and before you protest I redesigned the knife-proof wear we will be using. Can you make it?"

"Well not yet. Give me a week and I should be good enough at sewing to make these. Where will we be getting the leather though?"

"Didn't your dad have a set of motorcycle leathers and spares? Those should be good enough." Hook

"Yeah, but those were you know…"

"Also the helmets will be a good way of protecting our heads. You still have those right?" Line

"Yes, but those were my dad's."

"So? Cass we need protection. Are you going to balk out over some clothes?" This would have been the sinker had Casey not smarted up to what I was doing.

"James if you think I'm going to change my mind over such a low blow you are wrong." Well involving her dead Dad wasn't the most brilliant idea I have had, but she can't blame me for trying. "Now, do we have weapons?"

"Well it depends. How do you see your-self using a baton? Tonfas are another good option from what I have seen. Other than that a taser would be excellent if we could get our hands on one."

"I don't think I can get a taser. The tonfas are a little harder but I can manage." Not the baton? Oh well. "And you?"

"Glad you asked. I think I'm going to fabricate myself some bolas. They seem ideal for fighting from a far and also for close quarters." They were. The bolas were just centrifugal force and aerial trajectory applied to a weapon. I would almost certainly never miss and I could make an extra-long one to use as a bludgeoning weapon to knock people out.

"Yeah they kind of fit you with your whole math powers thingy. Isn't there any weapon that would fit my powers too?"

"Cass your best bet would be to learn to use the most weapons you can as fast as you can. You can get a good proficiency with anything in a few months of training compared to the few years that would take most people."

"He he he." She chuckled.

"What now?"

"You didn't say anything about me calling them powers!" She then abruptly hung up. I could already feel her how much she will annoy me with that. Oh well.

I threw myself towards my bed wondering what to do now. I had to shower and change the bandages in my cut, but I felt too tired to do that. Instead I grabbed a whistle I had lying around and blew as loud as I could. To anyone observing me this would make no sense except for one fact. My sister was sleeping next door and I felt like annoying her.

My door opened promptly showing the messy figure that is Marie Lavoisse in her sleep deprived state.

"Hello sister dearest what may I help you with in this lovely morning?" I asked with the whistle in my left hand and a smile on my face.

"Fuck. You." Was her response before leaving to do who knows what.

That cheered me up a little, but I still had nothing to do. So with a groan I got to work. We probably had some Pool or golf balls lying around. They will make for good base materials for my bolas.

AN: Yes, yes yes. I have no excuse. I simply didn't feel like writing. I felt like a chore. So I can't trust any kind of update schedule I say I have. Feedback helps a little but in the end it all comes down to how much I want to write.


	6. Chapter 6

Introduction.6

Contrary to what novels and the media had led me to believe going out to fight crime didn't completely turn my life upside down overnight. In fact the weekend had come and gone and I still hadn't found anything other than my normal life. I may be hanging too much with Cass if I was already romanticizing this, I knew that rationally there was no reason for anything to change. However I felt a little strange going back to school with a cut on my side and having fought three muggers last Friday night.

Not that I was complaining. I liked my life as it was, thank you very much, Cass can keep all the adventure as long as she doesn't get hurt. I liked little, normal me who can absentmindedly type away a message to Cass about getting helmets for our next 'heroic' escapade while in math class.

 _Dude no way I'm wearing a helmet. Have you ever seen an hero wearing a motorcycle helmet? They are completely un-heroic and would make us look like some kind of odd criminals._

 _Cass for the love of whatever it is that will make you agree get the damn helmets! I know you are hard headed but we kind of need as much protection as we can get. Also it will make it harder for anyone to recognize us if they see us walking down the street._

 _Hell no! Have you seen my hair after I put on one of those? I'm not going to spend one hour fixing my hair just because you are a scaredy cat._

I could tell she was joking, Cass was the least vain girl I've ever met..As far as cues about Cass go this was a bad one, it meant that she was going to do whatever the hell she wanted and screw my opinion. Sometimes I wondered if she ev-

" James Morrison!"

I looked up from the phone to see a very annoyed Ms. Smith glaring down at me. Ms. Smith was our math teacher and she was your stereotypical library lady, both in her dressing habits and in personality. Today she was wearing her always present sweater over who-knows-what, she never takes it off, with a long green skirt and red shoes that wouldn't have looked out of place in a movie from the fifties. She even had those glasses with the little beaded string that went around her neck like a necklace and her grayed hair which still retained some strands hinting to a past brunette mane tied neatly into a bun.

She was giving me that glare little kids get when they are caught doing something they really shouldn't, it looked as if she was about to raise a nagging finger to emphasize my mistake. Luckily she didn't or I wouldn't have known how to react. Probably it would be the same deer-in-the -headlights face I must have had. That thought reminded me that I had just spent a few moments staring at her. Without looking at the phone and making some calculation's in my head to aid me I sent Cass a message telling her that I would call later. With a wrist movement I threw my phone at my bag, and hoping that the fact that I hadn't broke eye contact with her meant that Ms. Smith hadn't seen the phone, I answered her.

"Yes?" I half said half asked waiting for her to elaborate on whatever it was that I wasn't paying attention to. Her frown deepened as she responded.

"Care to give em the answer to the problem or were you paying too much attention to your phone to listen in on my class?" Crap she had seen me, worse I had absolutely no idea which problem it was that she talking about.

He must have noticed that I was completely lost, because I heard a whisper coming from behind me. "The one in the black board" Zack told me. I spared a glance at the black board and, sure enough, there was a polynomial function written on it and under it there was an encircled letter a with the word 'Roots' written next to it.

I swiftly calculated and listed all the roots for the polynomial, while doing my best to pretend that I had known them all along.

"Four, minus three, minus five, I and minus I." For some reason instead of making her turn around and keep teaching this answer only made her stare at me harder, while also evoking various strange looks from my classmates.

' _The hell? That's the right answer. I'm sure. Shit Zack if you decided to play an joke on me now of all times I swear to god I'm going to murder you.'_ I thought. Fortunately, before I could curse Zack even further, Ms. Smith chose that moment to move on.

"Technically true I suppose, but please refrain form including answers that the rest of the class hasn't learned yet next time I ask you a question Mr. Morrison."

That clued me into the fact that everyone else wouldn't have the faintest idea of what an imaginary number was. Well more like it shoved the fact in my face instead of cluing me in. I really wasn't paying attention. Come to think of it I couldn't recall when was the last time I payed attention to this class. Pretty sure it was this year…. Maybe?

Crap.

"So You are the root?" Zack jokingly remarked from behind me.

"Shut up, I will explain later." I whispered back trying my best not to get noticed by Ms. Smith again, an endeavor in which I succeeded for the most part, as boring as it was to do every problem while maintaining the pace with the rest of my classmates. Until the end of the class I behaved normally, expecting Ms. Smith to forget about my previous answer. However me and luck don't get along.

"Class you can go." Our teacher said as the bell rang out, I stood out and prepared myself to leave while talking to Zack and trying to explain him what the square root of minus one was. I almost made it, but just as we passed next to her desk Ms. Smith raised her head from whatever it was that she was paying attention to.

"James, please stay behind for a few minutes will you?" She said making me stop in my tracks. I shot Zack a desperate look trying to convey my need for help as well as I could, He took one look at me, one at Ms. Smith and promptly made his escape in order to save his own hide, the coward.

I walked towards the desk until I was completely facing my teacher, who had taken off her glasses as she didn't need them anymore. Trying to assuage myself, I thought that it couldn't be too bad, I had only answered to the best of my ability after all. Little good this did, everyone knew Ms. Smith was a bitch if you got on her bad side, and every second that passed this seemed to be more of the case. Finally she broke the silence.

"James how old do you think I am?" She caught me off guard with such a question. I knew it was a trap, as would every man faced with the question, but I waited for her to elaborate in hopes of not having to give an answer.

"Ehhhh..." Was the sound that escaped my lips.

She held up one hand in front of me. "Don't answer." She said. " What I'm trying to say is that I wasn't born yesterday. You aren't the first student who thinks himself savvier than an old woman like me, and you probably won't be the last." She lowered her hand before resuming. "What I am trying to say is that I have noticed that you are years ahead from your classmates in regards to my subject. Today's incident only proves it."

Damn she was on to something, I tried to think of an excuse that would cover me, but I everything I could come up with was more stupid than the simplest explanation. So I decided to go with that.

"I'm not that much ahead. I only studied a little in my home just to one up Cassie." I shrugged it off and laughed. She only blinked at me with an exasperated look in her face. I didn't think she was buying it.

"James I don't appreciate being taken for a fool." She said as she rummaged through her bag at her side. " Do you remember Monday's test?"

"Yes." I had a bad feeling about this.

"Did you notice anything strange about it?" Obviously there was something strange in my test, but since I had no idea what it was there was no point in lying.

"No?"

She sighed and then took out my test from her bag, handing it to me. I took a look at it and now I could see what was wrong, the test was pretty normal up until the second question and then got progressively harder, by question four I was sure, after actually paying attention today, that none of my classmates could have completed the test had they taken it. I was quite and utterly fucked.

"You switched my test!" I accused her, something which didn't seem to faze her at all.

"Yes." Was the only answer I got along with a look that would make even the best trained soldier look away. It was the look that said 'You can't pull this bullshit on me and it annoys me that you are even trying'. I don't know how the hell she manged to convey so much in a look, but she did.

"I don't know what is more frustrating, the fact that you were so unaware of what was happening in my class that I could switch your test for something even my best students on senior year would struggle to complete or the fact that you didn't realize it and even then got full marks."

"Well." I tried to defend myself, though I didn't even know where to start. "I… kinda-"

"James." She interrupted me, sighing. "I have talked about this with some of your other teachers, who feel the same way. We all took this to the vice-principal who asked me to tell you that she strongly recommends seeing the school counselor."

I grimaced, obviously this wasn't a 'recommendation' at all, she might as well have ordered me to go. I would still put it off for as long as I could.

"I understand." I lowered my vision a little, before looking at her again. " I will try and see him next time I can." Which was to be never or at least a month down the line.

"Actually, I have talked with Mr. Sturner." That was my physics teacher, who I had next period, and this wasn't a good sign at all. "He said that he wouldn't mind if you lost his class, and went to the counselor now. Apparently Mathematics aren't the only subject that you are good at." She finished giving me a smug smile as if she had known I was trying to avoid seeing the counselor. She probably did know too.

With I sigh I resigned myself and told her that I would go see him right now. I grabbed my stuff and walked out of her classroom where Zack was waiting for me.

"So? How would it go?" He asked with a smirk. "Did Mr. good behavior get caught with a cellphone in class?"

"No." I answered as I walked with him towards the bathroom. "I got caught being too smart."

"Ha ha." He laughed. "That's what you get for being a show off." He was being completely hypocritical and he knew it. Zack loved to show off whenever he was good at something at that was my favorite phrase for whenever it backfired.

"Not really." I told him and then explained everything that our teacher had told me. I almost couldn't finish because Zack spent the entire explanation laughing at me.

"You meant to tell me you didn't even notice your test was wrong?" He laughed. "Dude only you, I swear. How good are you actually at math?"

I debated whether to tell him or not. Still by now the cat was out of the bag and it wasn't a life or death kind of secret, more like an annoying kind of secret if it got out. "I'm university level, If I put down the effort I could probably finish any degree that is completely math based in a year."

"Holy crap dude!" That got him to stop laughing." I mean, I knew you were lazy, but still. You can be outta this place, get a scholarship or whatever, and finish college in two years and you are still here? Why the hell?"

Well that was a strong blow from Zack and it hit home after what Cass had told me the other day. I mean, I knew I was lazy, but was it so wrong? It's not like anyone was dying just because I was taking it easy, and it was my life anyways. Why was everyone in such a rush?

"You said it yourself. I'm lazy. I just don't want to put down the necessary effort."

"Dude. You don't get it. You are smart like hell, but I would kill to be a tenth as smart as you are. I mean it's a little frustrating seeing you being able to do all that while I can barely pass the year with all the effort in the world."

I had no counter argument to that. I felt bad for Zack, I really did, but me going out and starting to take advantage of my powers wasn't going to help him with this. He was just a little envious, it would pass.

"I get you man, but now it's not the moment. I need to figure out what the hell I'm doing when I go to the counselor's office and it needs to be fast."

"Well what are you gonna do?" He asked me, while shrugging as if to demonstrate that he wasn't the one I should ask. Of course I knew that.

"Luckily for me I have one friend who has spent more time in the counselor's, the vice-principal's and the principal's office than the rest of the school put together." I said as I pulled out my phone and started dialing.

"Dude you gotta be kidding me. You are going to call her for advice? That weirdo is nothing but trouble and her advice in this kind of situations won't be the kind of help you want."

I felt as if Zack was being unfair to her, but on the other hand she had been on the verge of expulsion one too many times and had to haggle academic achievements and competitions in exchange for being able to stay in this school.

"Maybe. However this is the best idea I have." I said as I dialed.

"Well, it's your funeral then."

The phone rung a few times before Cass answered.

" _Hey Jay not cool to leave me hanging while taking such important team decisions."_

"Cassie shut up and listen, something else came up."

A/N:

It is completely incredible how one of my longest chapters up to date is almost completely irrelevant to the plot, had to be split in two smaller chapters and also still hasn't introduced the plot point that was to be introduced. On the other hand now I have spawned a subplot, so that's good too.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will take this opportunity to remind you all that I'm still looking for a beta-reader, who I'm willing to concede some story privileges in order to get which go all the way from spoilers to adding Ocs to the story. Maybe more, who knows?

Well that's all for today. Stay safe and healthy.


	7. Chapter 7

Introduction.7

I stood there across the hall leading to the counselor's office door. Zack was right behind me, probably because the bell hadn't rung yet, accompanying me to see Mr. Broker. The walk towards his office didn't feel as scary as it felt before thanks to Cassie's advice, which had helped a lot although not in the way she would expect. I now had some idea of what I would be dealing with and it wouldn't be too bad. My strategy was quite simple, don't cooperate, admit everything and leave. According to Cass if they threatened to call my parents it was bullshit because I hadn't done anything wrong, so I had to out threaten them by saying that I would start to act more like Cass, which supposedly would be too much of a bother and make them leave me be. Simple, but effective.

I knocked twice on the door and waited for the response.

"Enter!"

Looking back at Zack who flashed me a grin and two thumbs up I went in.

Mr. Broker's office wasn't anything remarkable, a simple desk with two seats in front and one behind, a computer on top of it and a bookshelf with an assortment of books placed against the right wall, and a window opposite of the door. The only decoration at all was a newton's cradle on the desk, other than that the office was almost empty.

This was the complete opposite of his predecessor Ms. Kylie, I only knew this due to Cassie, but apparently her office was filled to the brim with positivity posters and she was the stereotypical high school counselor who tried to solve everything with smiles, sugar and sprinkles. She quit at the end of last year after a whole year of dealing with Cass, which was to be expected and in fact Cass had bet against me that she could make her quit before the year was over. Given that there still two years until Cass would abandon this institution the school had hired a counselor with another methodology.

Mr. Broker was a big man at 1.808967 meters tall and boasting a shoulder width of 48.968965 centimeters, along with his dark skin would make him look somewhat threatening if you came across him while crossing the street at night, however he was the exact opposite. With his dress pants, shirt and always present blue tie Mr. Broker projected and atmosphere of calm and relaxedness, the man himself was very centered and you would never see him with anything else than a smile and a good tranquil predisposition, I would know since Cass had certainly tried to just rile him up to no avail. Many students came to talk to him just because he helped to calm them down and you just couldn't help but trust him. All of this qualities made him a perfect counselor.

"Oh, James good to see you, I was expecting you today, please sit." He said as soon as he saw it was me in that strangely calming voice of his. If I had any nervousness before it sure had been eased now.

I sat in one of the chairs while Mr. Broker took out a folder from the drawer of the desk and place it on the table, It took me a moment to recognize that it was my transcript with all my grades inside. He sighed before continuing.

"James do you know why you are here?"

I took a moment to think of an answer that would more or less work.

"Because I wasn't paying attention in class?" I tried.

He must have found my answer somewhat funny because he chuckled.

"James if we called every kid that doesn't pay attention here the line behind my door would be endless. No, we called you because we are worried about you."

"Worried?" What were they worried about, I hadn't done anything dangerous to me or someone else. Last Friday's escapade notwithstanding, which they have no way of knowing about.

He tapped the folder laying on the desk. " You know what this is James?"

"My grades?"

He nodded and sat a little bit straighter. "Yes, now while looking through your grades from last year and from this one I can't help but notice that some of them dropped severely. You had mostly A's last year. Did something happen?"

"Not really, I suppose this year is just harder." I answered while smiling a little.

"Hmmm and this certainly has nothing to do with the fact that Cassie and you only have one class together now?" He said tilting his head forward knowing full well that there was a relation between both facts.

I could deny it, but there was no reason too. " OK, yeah I copied. We both did it's just that Cass is better at actually studying than me."

It had been laughably easy to copy each other last year, Cass just memorized the whole textbook and then sat in front of me during tests while writing without wrist motions which allowed me to decipher the coordinates of her hand by looking at her elbow's movement and thus track the path of her pen, which lent me the answers. In any mathematical subject I just finished first and when I went to hand it in I flashed Cass a brief look of my test and let her memory do the rest.

He just nodded. " The faculty already knew this, that's why you haven't been put together this year. I would ask how you did it but there is little point to it. This was just a small issue that I was told to address. What really worries us is that you are wasting your potential. Don't you agree?" He said in dissatisfaction.

I tried very hard to get at least a little angry at him, this was the third time someone told me that this week, however all I accomplished was not feeling too bad for disappointing him. It was very hard to get angry at him, for whatever the reason, Cass seemed to be the only one able to do that. Seeing that I didn't answer he kept going.

"When the principal explained the situation to me she wanted to call your parents, I manged to talk her down from that. In my opinion there was no need for such serious action. You are an excellent student not a troublemaker, all you need is a little encouragement to nurture those skill and pursue some achievements."

I really didn't feel like it, but I suppose that trying wouldn't hurt me. It wouldn't be too bad and Mr. Broker really seems to have my best interest at heart.

"What do you suggest then?"

My agreeing seemed to prompt a smile from him, He took out some papers which I recognized as club fliers.

"Well I have talked to some of your teachers and given your great skill at math the Mathletics club seems like a good option, Ms. Kyler supervises it and most of what they do is studying together and competing in various Math competitions. If you don't like that the robotics or programing club may be good for you. There is also this new club, it was started this year by Mr. Lancer, they study economy and create fake stock market portfolios, seems like fun if that interests you."

I took some moments to decide which flier to take, in the end I decide to go for robotics if only because I was curious to know how well I could handle electronics. It couldn't be too hard after all it's just applied physics.

Mr. Broker saw me take the flier and smiled, which made me smile back at him.

"There you go! You will see that you are going to enjoy being there." Then he leaned closer as if to say a secret. " Who knows? Maybe if you are good enough this could be the path to a scholarship eh?" He sat back straight and laughed. " Now go James. I don't want to such a good student here again." He joked, eliciting a laugh from me.

I stood up and walked out from his office feeling a lot better. Mr. Broker was right I just needed to put in a little more effort and there would be rewards.

The end of the day found me at Cassie's house retelling my experience at the counselors office, once I had finished Cass gave me her thoughtful feedback on how I did, given that she was the expert and all.

"What the fuck Jay?" A master of eloquence this one.

"What?" We were in Cassie's bedroom with me taking the chair and her laying on the bed, her mom wasn't home but we would still keep ourselves here in case she decided to come back, which according to Cass wasn't very probable.

"Don't 'What' me! You did the exact opposite of what we agreed on! I can't believe you let yourself be convinced by that counselor." She yelled.

"I don't see why you dislike Mr. Broker so much. He is very likable and he was right I do need to push myself a little harder. Weren't you saying the same thing the other day?"

"Yeah, but until this guy tells you to do it you were completely against it!"

This argument wasn't leading anywhere so I decided to change subjects back to what initially brought me here. "Whatever. How are the clothes going?"

Cass stopped to stare at me for a second knowing full well that I was changing the subject, but she didn't press further.

"First, they aren't clothes they are costumes and second " She said as she stood up and retrieved something form under the bed. "They are already finished." Cass took out two pairs of jackets and trousers from under the bed.

"Wow! You are already finished? That was fast even for you. I thought it would take you almost a month to learn how to sew until you could do this." I said impressed and also a bit disappointed. This meant that our next outing would be soon. I held out my hand for Cass to hand me the clothes.

She handed them to me. "Well when all you do is to sit and sew for five days straight only stopping for eating and bathroom breaks you tend to get things done. " Then she added in a lower voice. "Also I had already picked up sewing before this."

I knew what that meant and ignored it in favor of examining the garments.

Their elasticity and thickness were around what I had assumed them to be. Thick enough to resist impact and elastic enough to disperse the inertia of the knife through the weaving, it would have been better had Cass been able to weave the fabric in the patterns I had indicated but she didn't have the patience or resources to make whole new fabrics from scratch. As it was these should be good enough to resist most stabbings, although slashing at certain angles would cut the leather hopefully the knife would get trapped in the denim underneath. A skilled enough knife fighter would be able to tear through all of it, however there were more effective ways to harm us than that so I didn't expect that to happen.

"Sooo does my work get the James seal of approval?" Cass asked once I finished appraising the clothes.

I smiled at her. "They do, if you have the helmets."

"Oh come on! I get to decide at least one part of the costume and that is the mask!" She loudly exclaimed.

"We never agreed such a thing, and no a mask doesn't cut it. For starters they don't give any protection, for your body or identity."

"Trust me dude no one is going to recognize us with the masks on!"

"You do know that biometrics are a thing, right?" I asked.

"Well of course! But no one has ever figured out an hero's identity by..." She stopped and stared at me. " Oh my god. You did, didn't you?"

I stood perfectly straight and lied through my teeth. "No I didn't."

However Cass didn't buy it. "Nu uh there is no way you didn't. How didn't I realize sooner? You can see the world with a bunch of mathematical notations detailing everything on your sight, if you saw an hero on costume and out of it the measurements would match! You didn't even do it on purpose, to you biometrics are like faces!" She said in excited deduction, which left me stunned as I had never told her I could do that much. Either I didn't remember or she pieced it together from lots of tidbits and pieces I had let slip.

In the end there was no difference, she had me. "Yes, I did."

She got too close and started to literally press me for answers. "Tell me, Tell me, Tell me."

I sighed, I had to give her something or she wouldn't calm down. "I know Batman's, Robin's, Green Arrow's and Speedy's identities." It was something purely accidental, living in Star city guaranteed that I saw both Green Arrow and Oliver Queen in the TV very often, and a domino mask offered little to no disguise of his measurements. Batman had been something a lot more accidental given that I wasn't looking for his and that his costume actually changed some of the biometrics by making some parts thicker than necessary, however Robin wore a domino mask too and Richard Grayson while a lot less noticeable appeared now and then in the news on virtue of being the adopted son of Bruce Wayne.

"Who? How?" Kept asking Cass.

"It doesn't matter." I said staring firmly at her eyes to convey that I wouldn't be giving her more information. She stared back for a few seconds before backing down.

"Tsk well no need to get so serious." She said clearly disappointed, however she changed her mood fast because the next moment she was at the door. "There something else that I wanted to show you. Come follow me."

I followed her to her backyard tiredly wondering what was it that she wanted to show me. Cassie's house wasn't very big or well maintained given that it was in the poorer parts of town, but her backyard was quite big, around 20 meters by 20 meters although the exact numbers escaped me until I got to watch it again.

When we got there I saw that the backyard was almost unchanged since I last saw it, the grass was dry given that no one bothered to water it and the grill was in a state of disrepair since no one had touched it in almost six years. The only thing that looked well was the tree in the corner which provided some shadow. Also there was a bullseye attached to it.

"Cass please tell me you didn't-"

"Ta da!" She exclaimed appearing behind me with what looked like a very rustic bow and some arrows. "Do you like it? I made it myself." She said with pride.

I should have seen something like this coming, God knows I should have.

"Please Cass tell me that you don't plan on using that." I was already massaging my temple knowing the headache this would give me.

"No of course not. But you will!" She said with a smile.

"What?! Are you crazy?"

"No no. Hear me out. Obviously we aren't going to be pointing this at anyone. All I want you to do is to try it out."

"Why? I won't use it."

"I want to make a point."

"Which is?"

"You will see. Come on now it isn't so different to throwing balls at a hoop." She said handing me the bow to grab it.

"Alright." I grabbed the bow and one of the arrows and examined them. Length, shape, tension of the string, weight. Like Cass said it shouldn't be too different to throwing balls in basketball. All I needed to do is figure out what I wanted to do and take into account all the physical variables that will affect it, do the math in my head and I will then know how I should do it. However I noticed one thing.

"Cass. This thing is horribly deviated." It was true there was approximately 15° degrees of deviation from where the arrow was pointing form where it would land.

"Well, I'm sorry my self made bow isn't up to your standards Mr. perfectionist." She said flustered.

"Why didn't you correct it?"

"Two reasons. First I have no idea how to do it. Second I learnt how to use this bow already, so I can aim well even with the deviation. I want to see whether my fast learning and memory work in favor or in detriment when I start learning how to use a well-made bow." She said. I had to admit it wasn't a bad idea as far as experiments went, was Cass even capable of re-learning something?

"You know you could have fucked up your ability to use a bow forever right?"

"It's too late now. Stop worrying about me and shoot!" She prompted me.

I nocked the arrow and drew the bowstring back. All the aforementioned variables were now in my head as I also took account of the air currents and resistance. The arrow's projected path unfolded in my vision as clear as day. The path shifted and moved around with my breathing, unsteady hand and air currents. I adjusted the bow and took a deep breath. Then I saw it a shift in the air current, the moment all variables aligned I released the arrow. It flew and hit the bullseye center.

I looked at Cass and said. "Well I hit it, what was the point you wanted to make?"

"Not yet. You took almost fifteen seconds to shoot. Now I want you to do something else." What did it matter how long I took to shoot?

"What is it now?" I said with irritation.

"Split it."

"What?" She couldn't be suggesting what I thought she was suggesting.

"Split the goddamn arrow by the middle." She said, arms crossed as if to convey that there was no way that I was leaving without doing it.

"No way. I can't do that." I said dropping the bow. I was leaving.

"You aren't going anywhere until you split that arrow." She put herself in front of me and pushed me back.

"Cass there is no way I can do that. It takes years to be able to use a bow and even think of attempting that trick." I explained already exasperated. I would jump over her if I had to in order to leave.

" Oh yeah? How about grabbing a bow for the first time in your life and taking fifteen seconds to hit bullseye? That shit happens everyday right? And don't you dare say it was a fluke because we both damn well know it wasn't!" She was yelling now. " Now grab that bow and aim it or I swear that next time I go out I will do it alone."

I stared at her in anger for a few moments before taking the bow again. If there was one thing about arguing with Cass is that she knew how to hit you where it hurts.

I nocked another arrow back and took aim. It was a lot harder this time because I needed to repeat the previous shot with an almost nonexistent margin of error. However since I had already moved from my previous place that would be impossible. The two main things I needed to focus on were the angle of entrance and the area where the shot would succeed, which was smaller than a pin's head.

I stared at the bullseye trying to make all variables coincide, but my hand wasn't steady enough and the more I kept the string drawn the less chance there was that my hand kept itself in one place.

"Relax." I heard Cass whisper into my ear. Her hands placed behind my shoulders. "You are too stiff, your muscles too tensioned you need to let go just a little. Stop focusing in the bullseye and focus on yourself." She whispered in a soothing voice.

I did as she said and she was right, there muscles in my back and abdomen which were unnecessarily tensioned, I relaxed those. It didn't improve my steadiness, but rather it worsened it. However now my movements were much more linked to my breathing, as I exhaled the projected path of the arrow got stable enough for me to release it.

"See? It wasn't too hard now was it?" Cass said now facing me with a full smile.

"Shut up." I said, turning my face away from her. I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to listen to Cass and her craziness. This wasn't possible.

"No, I won't" She said grabbing my head and forcing me to look at the tree. "Look at that, because that shit is what you do. Own it. Everyone else may think you are smart and lazy so they think that you are wasting your potential by not going to competitions and applying for scholarships. But I know you better, this is the real kind of potential you have. This is what you are really wasting."

I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at the tree and at the arrow split right down the middle. I didn't want to know what that meant for me or for who I was. I wrestled my face away from Cass and ran from there. I didn't want to be special, I didn't want the responsibilities that came with powers, because even if I had accepted to calling them that before I sure hadn't truly believed I had them until now. I didn't want to be special.


	8. Chapter 8

Introduction. 8

I ended up in my bed after I reached my home. All I did was lie there with my face pressed to the pillow as if that would hide me from the realization that I actually had powers and wasn't just saying that to please Cass. I felt stupid doing that, but as much as I hated being stupid I didn't move. I would still have to face Cass tomorrow and there were still a lot of things and details to think about, but it could wait. Or, more precisely, I would make it wait.

My plans to just keep laying there were interrupted by two soft knocks on my open door. I turned my face around to see my Dad standing in the doorway. He was wearing a suit minus the tie and jacket, indicating that he had just gotten home from work. Daniel Morrison was a very average man 1.750832 meters in height, brown eyes and brown hair which I had inherited. His only outstanding feature was a broadness of shoulders which made him look bigger than he actually was.

At a first glance me and Dad didn't look much like each other, with me being taller and him being broader the only feature we actually seemed to share was the hair, however when I actually cared to look or better said use my powers, there was no point denying it now I have powers I should at least use them, there were some measures that matched. Nothing too obvious some proportions here, a little bone structure there, I could actually see some resemblance in our faces which I suppose most people missed.

"Hey there. Everything alright kiddo?" He asked with a small smile probably intuiting that there was something wrong. Still given that I wasn't going to explain to my dad the whole situation with Cass I smiled back and tried to pretend that everything was fine.

"Yes why?"

"Well I thought that you looked kind of upset lying down there." He answered as if it were a mere supposition of his.

"Uh? No, I was just taking a nap."

"A nap?" He asked. "With the lights on? With the door open? While still wearing your socks? You must be really tired then" He kept going injecting more sarcasm as the sentence became longer. Walking forward he sat in the bed beside me, I turned and twisted a little just to give him more space. Dad wasn't exactly fat, but his belly had been growing in size for a while now and at this distance I could see a couple of isolated gray hairs, he was 42 but age seemed to be already taking a toll on him.

"So? What's really going on? You can tell and maybe your old man will be able to lend a hand." He said leaning closer to me. "Is it girl problems?" He finished with a grin.

I supposed that could be one way of calling it. Although calling Cass a girl is the kind of fact that you know because its obvious, but then experience tells you to ignore because its useless.

"Kinda?" I replied refusing to meet his eyes. Which was a big mistake, it only prompted him to laugh and tease me more.

"Ha Ha. So my little boy is growing! Who is she? Do I know her?"

"Well it's about Cass..." I began only to be interrupted.

"Oh Cass! I always knew that there was something between you two-"

"Dad! It's not like that. I don't like Cass that way." In fact I already pitied the fool who would.

"Then what's the problem? Did you fight?"

"Kinda I..." I didn't know how to continue.

I considered for one second telling my Dad everything, the fight, the powers, Cass' idea. However I didn't see any way that could end well, at best Cass would be going alone next time she went out, because she would go out there was no stopping her now. I didn't want to consider the worst case scenario. Which meant that I would be telling a more abridged version of the truth.

"Youuuu..." My dad prompted me to continue.

I sighed. "Do you remember when I was little and went to all those math competitions and won?"

"Yes of course, that's how you met Cass. Then you stopped winning and doing the competitions altogether." He said as if it were obvious, not seeing my point.

"I didn't stop winning I failed on purpose, I just got tired of doing all that and simply didn't want to keep doing it." I looked down as I confessed to my dad the fact that I hadn't been giving my all for a while now. I left Cass out of it, she was a big part on why I stopped but it had nothing to do with the point I was trying to make to my dad.

I felt him place his hand on my shoulder. "Kid..." He said gravely. "I already knew." What? I looked up to him only to see his grinning face. I didn't understand, I really didn't.

"How?" I asked.

"Because." He leaned closer to my as if to confide a big secret. "Adults do pay attention to little kid's conversations. You were a lot less inconspicuous that you thought."

"Why didn't you say anything? I could be getting scholarships or god knows how many prizes by now. Aren't I wasting my potential?" I asked truly stunned by my dad's answer.

He straightened himself with a knowing smile, dad was always smiling he always finds a way to make things amusing, and answered. "So that's why you had a fight with Cass."

"Not really a fight I just got upset." I didn't say yes, lies by omission are better than outright lies. At least for my conscience.

He slung a arm over my shoulder and gave me a half hug. "Look James the truth is that the only thing I want for you is to be happy, it doesn't matter if you are successful, recognized or awarded as long as you are happy. Don't worry about scholarships, we aren't so bad off that we can't afford yours and your sister's college. If living an laid back and normal life then do it! Just because you can be the best doesn't mean you have to."

I looked at my dad strangely. The I laughed, I laughed so hard my ribs started to hurt. At some point my dad joined my and we were laughing like idiots for a few minutes before lying down in my bed.

"You are right dad. Screw everyone I gonna do what I want." I said.

"Exactly kid. Remember, it's your life. No one can tell you how to live it but yourself." He stood up and walked towards the door to leave. Before doing so he left me one last comment. "Power doesn't come with responsibility. Do whatever you want with your math skills." And with a grin he turned and left.

I didn't know what to make of that last comment. Did he know? There was no way he knew, it had to just be a coincidence. Was it? Dad had just showed me he knew me better than I thought. There was no chance he could know that I had powers, I was pretty sure that I hadn't slipped in that front if at least to hide my mathematical prowess. Damn it dad, while the conversation had made me feel a lot more free and liberated, if only because he endorsed my laziness, that last comment left me more worried. I would think about it later.

I stood up from my bed just to move myself from there to my desk. I would play some games on my computer, maybe check up facebook and youtube before taking a shower. However just as I was about to log into my session I heard one distinct voice coming from the door.

"Hey I'm going to do you a favor." Marie's voice reached my ears as she entered the room. I didn't expect some kind of greeting or pleasantry, she simply didn't give enough fucks about me.

I turned around my chair just as my step-sister sat on my bed. She was wearing some skinny jeans and a shirt with just enough cleavage to not get reprimanded at school. Her ginger locks fell behind her shoulders and her skin white skin was impeccable, any imperfection covered by the necessary amount of make-up.

"How lucky of me then! To have such a dear sister like you!" I replied smiling with as much sarcasm as I could. "Now what do you really want Marie?"

A frown appeared on her face as she stood up and walked around the room before ending up half leaning half sitting on the border of my desk. "You know most people would say thanks when somebody else does them a favor."

"Most people know that two times three is six not five. It seems we aren't most people sis." I countered.

I could see her greet her teeth. "It was one time! One! Can't you let it go?"

"No." I answered. "Now what kind of favor am I going to suffer from you?"

"Well." She began. "You remember my friend Lisa?"

"Yes." I answered

"You don't do you?" She said narrowing her eyes. I in fact didn't so I shook my head innocently. "Well it doesn't matter because this awesome sister of yours got you a date with her." She said that las part with her chi held up high and a smug smile, obviously to exaggerate the statement.

"So." I crossed my arms. "Your friend wanted to ask me out?" There was a trick to discerning the truth from what Marie was saying,. "I don't buy it."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Ok, so it wasn't actually a favor, no big deal, but why don't you believe me?"

I looked at her with my best 'are you serious?' look. "I don't know if you noticed dear sister, but you and me hang with very different groups of people. You are part of that thing called the popular crowd and I simply hang with whoever I want. Your friends usually date athletes or good looking guys."

She chuckled at that probably finding it amusing that I admitted that she was popular. "Well yes, usually they do. But you forget that you used to be an athlete and aren't that bad looking yourself, maybe lacking a little more muscle and with not so sharp features, all in all you are above average."

I nodded contemplatively, I suppose I could see it. I would have to ask Cass what she thought about it later, I trusted her more than what I trusted Marie.

"Also she has the hots for smart people. Like, her last boyfriend was a total nerd. So we were talking about school and shit and I like said that you were really smart and well here I am."

I grimaced at every use of the word like. It hurt to listen to someone slaughter the English language like that.

"Okay, but even then there are two things. First I still don't know who she is, and second if she talks like you do then there's no deal."

"You do know I only do that to annoy you right?" She asked while taking her phone out of her pocket.

"I have heard you talk with your friends." I deadpanned.

"Yes, but they do that seriously and it's catchy. Don't worry though Lisa doesn't do that." She finished fiddling with her phone and handed it to me. "This is her." On the phone there was a facebook profile photo.

Now I remembered who Lisa was. My sister wasn't setting me up with her ugly friend, Lisa was shorter than me with green eyes, blond hair and some curves. She probably worked out or did a sport. I looked away from the phone.

"Alright." I said with some distrust. My sister wasn't one to get me dates with her friends or anyone else for that matter.

"So you will go out her?" She asked, wanting to her a clear confirmation.

"Yes, I will. When?"

"Yes! I'm gonna arrange where, but it's going to be this Sunday. No backsies!" She said as fast as possible while getting out of my room, most probably so that I wouldn't change my mind.

I had a very busy weekend starting tomorrow night and the street-fighting wasn't the thing that worried me the most about it. I would need to ask Zack about dates tomorrow. Sometimes I really wished that I had a more dull life, it would be less bothersome that way.

AN:

So, characters just keep popping up and getting into the story, god knows how this subplots will end because I sure as hell don't. On another news thanks everyone for the suggestions for weapons! Most of them won't see much use, but I will try to at least incorporate as many of them as I can in the story.

On that note I'm still looking for that rare and slippery creature called a beta reader. If you happen to be one then you will be greatly appreciated and given some of the benefits explained in the previous author's note. Payment will be handed in virtual cookies.

Also I broke the 20K words barrier! Yay! 50K you are next.


	9. Chapter 9

This was brought to you by the most awesome of beta readers. A round of applause for Moriensdei !

Introduction. 9

"C'mon! Do it!" Cass prompted me from the other side.

"No chance in hell! I told you this is crazy!"

"Do it Damnit! You know that you can! If anyone has any reason to be confident about this is you!"

Although she was right that the jump was doable, there was no way that I was going to indulge Cass in her fantasy of going roof-hopping. Both of us were already in our "Costumes" and Cass was waiting for me on the other side; she still seemed to think that I could do anything so long as it was physically possible (something that the arrow thing hadn't helped, I'm sure) instead of accepting that I did in fact know my limits better than her and that this all depended on my coordination, which saw itself hampered by the very real fear of falling and crashing into the pavement below.

"C'mon! Trust me!"

Swearing eternal torment on to Cass if I didn't make it, I took a few steps back and began running. I had 10.48211 meters before the end of my current rooftop and the gap between this one and the next was 6.33679. In the few seconds I had left before reaching the edge of the roof, I took note of distance, change in elevation, weight, gravity, air resistance, friction and currents and planned out my jump accordingly. I adjusted the length of my last steps and jumped with the tip of my foot just 3.121 centimeters away from the edge.

The few heart-stopping, stomach-lurching moment's I spent in the air almost made me puke my stomach out. When I landed on the other side, Cass stood there her hands on her hips and, despite the helmet, I knew that she was grinning like mad.

"Sooo?" She asked teasingly.

"I almost died!"

"No you didn't," Was the dismissive answer "Physics is your whole thing: you know better than anyone that you were safe."

"I also know better than anyone how many bones I would have broken had I fallen." I really did; I had looked a little into anatomy when I first started sparring with Cass all those years ago. Still, I decided to refresh those lessons for tonight – which meant I had asked Cass – after all, most of my fighting style was based on the mechanics of the human body. It wouldn't do to be sloppy.

"Let's go. You're leading."

"Why am I leading? You're the one who knows how to get there."

"Yes, but you're the one who knows how to jump all the gaps. Or if we can make the jump at all. Not all rooftops are as comfortably close as these two. Now lead the way and I'll give you the directions."

I could have argued that we could go side by side, but then realized that while she may have trained her parkour, the terrain probably meant that her skills weren't up to par now. So she was probably going to copy me.

"Whatever" I said as I started running, although it was more like a jog until the border was close enough that I needed the additional speed.

That was how I ended up spending my Friday night jumping across rooftops; my best friend copying my movements as well as she could, shouting directions at me all the while. I would be lying if I said that some part of me hadn't had fun doing it. The calculation of variables, the speed, the adrenaline and the short time I had to figure it all out along with the risk of falling, it all added up to a mental exercise I could actually enjoy. It wasn't often that I could push my mind like this.

Tonight we had decided to tackle things differently, and part of that was that I'd left all of the planning up to Cass. Surprisingly, She had actually come through and researched a fair bit about the crime scene in Star City. According to her, Star City could be divided into four sections: North, South, East and West. In the South were the richer parts of town, where the police did their jobs as best as possible and there were no gangs. To the West were the dockyards, half of it was controlled by Brick's Gang and the other half by the Triads. The East was supposedly Cartel territory although there was the occasional skirmish with smaller gangs, none of which were notable enough to warrant an explanation from Cass. Meanwhile, the North was Russian territory, again with some smaller gangs on the sides. There was also the Italian mafia, but they didn't seem to have any territory.

The way Cass explained it, there were no hard boundaries on where one gang's territory ended and the others' began; apparently everyone lost influence the closer they got to the centre or South of the city. Apparently, the last time we'd gone out we'd started in the North, and the further into Russian territory we'd gotten the less muggers there were. The Russians didn't like that sort of thing, after all. The plan for tonight was to head to the North-Eastern part of the city. That would be where the Russians' and Mexicans' territory overlapped, and plenty of small gangs occupied it. It was the zone were the highest amount of street crimes were committed.

Again, all according to Cass.

We were still jogging across rooftops when we found ourselves in front of a wall caused by the height difference of two adjacent buildings and, as had happened a couple of times alredy, I turned around and brought my hands together for Cass to plant her boot into. With the boost, she easily reached the next roof and began to climb. I ran in the opposite direction for a moment before turning back around and, with a running start I jumped up to plant one of my feet on the wall, propped myself up a little higher and took Cassie's hand to ascend the last bit of the way.

-

Just as we both found ourselves together at the same elevation, a scream pierced through the mundane sounds of the night.

"Help!"

I would like to say that we both followed our heroic instincts and ran to help the citizen in trouble. What I can actually say is that as I turned to look at Cass she was already running towards the sound of the noise. So when she reached the edge of the roof and held her hand high, I turned towards the street to descend and proceed as we had planned.

I managed to fall down onto the street without killing myself by holding on to the building's cornices for a fleeting moment each. Enough to break my fall but not anything else. I was sure that with practice I would be able to master the trick and make it look much smoother.

I was about to round the corner into an alley when I saw Cass up on the roof. We nodded at each other to confirm that we were ready and, taking out a bola for each hand, I rounded the corner as the balls started spinning and yelled

"Stop!"

I took in the scene as fast as I could. There were two figures standing in the alley, one of whom was pushing the other against the wall and was already turning to see me. A moment too late I noticed the metal object that the figure – a man I then noticed – was holding. Unluckily for me it was a gun.

Cass and I had spoken about guns. She was convinced that I could predict were the bullets would land by doing the same "Math thingy" that I did with arrows. I had told her that she was right, but I couldn't actually do it because I had never seen a real gun before (tv didn't count), so I had no idea what equations governed the trajectory of the bullets and I was also pretty sure that the state of the gun would alter the trajectory too. Meaning I couldn't predict exactly where the bullets would land.

What I could do was calculate an estimate trajectory with a big enough margin of error to be safe, a foot in this case, and see that the projected trajectory and my own body never coexisted within the same coordinates.

The fight was over in seconds. I moved towards the same the direction that my opponent was turning as I spun the bolas even faster for the throw. It took only 2.13156 seconds for the bolas to get the momentum they needed, but in that time the man had managed to point his gun at me and shoot once. My heart almost stopped as I realised that my left arm was in the projected trajectory of the bullet. Luckily it deviated to the other direction and I had already let my right bola loose. The gunman manged to let off two more shots before the bola reached his arm and the inertia forced him to point downwards.

By then it was too late; Cass had jumped onto him from the rooftop and the guy toppled down. She didn't need my help to finish subduing him and forcing him to drop his weapon. Still, I never stopped spinning the bola; I had adjusted my equations after those three shots and I was keeping ready for the unlikely event that he manged to wrestle Cass away from himself.

Cass ended up tying him to a nearby pipe with a zip tie. She also made sure to tie his feet together and take away the gun.

"Thank you"

The sudden noise startled me and only then did I remember the other figure in the alley. I turned around to see a guy of Mexican descent who was around our age and dressed like he was out to have a good time. He probably lived near here and had been going out to a party when he got mugged.

"It's no problem citizen!" Cass loudly exclaimed, having heard the guy too.

The poor dude looked at me as if trying to decide if I was going to say something weird and cliché like that too. For a moment I thought about having some fun with him, but decided that he'd probably had enough for one night.

"Don't worry, she's like that."

"Hey! I'm a superhero: I can act like that if I want." Was her offended response.

"We're vigilantes at best and this guy seems to have had enough even without your... eccentricities on top." I had to be careful and not say weirdness, that would have hit too close to home.

"Who are you?" Was the next thing the guy said. I pitied him a little because it sure was a hell of a night he was having, but the poor guy had just asked the worst possible question.

"I'm Nightowl and this party pooper is Axis" exclaimed Cass as I grimaced, thankful that our would be victim couldn't see my face.

"Uhhh..." Was all that he managed to say to that statement.

"Okay," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder and starting to lead him out of the alley. "How about you go back to your home and sleep off tonight's excitement while we handle this guy?"

He let himself be taken to the block's corner before thanking both of us again and taking off to... wherever it was that he was going. After I lost sight of him I went back to the alley with Cass and our little mugger.

The guy was almost completely tied up, except for his left arm which lay by his side. He was waring a ragged hoodie and equally ragged jeans. Also he was completely drenched in sweat. I could see why he was so nervous; if I'd been beaten up by two strangers in leather I would be too. Cass was standing up opposite of him with some objects in her hands.

"The poor guy just left, I think he is going to be alright. Although I thought we needed him to make a statement for the police?" I asked, already suspecting the answer.

"In this part of town? The police won't come Axis." She answered, never looking away from the mugger. I nodded and, not knowing what we could do with him, I changed topics.

"What did you find?"

"The gun, some bullets, five hundred in cash and some heroin." She said angrily. It just had to be heroin. Pot would be bad too, but why did it have to be heroin?

"Five hundred?" I turned to the mugger. "What, were you on a spree?"

Our guy simply kept his mouth shut and stared at me.

"Listen dude," Cass began. "You don't have many options here. Option one is that you keep your mouth shut and we give you a little physical reminder of the difference between right and wrong. Option two is that you talk and maybe we give you a warning and let you go." She was lying: Cass wouldn't just let this guy go under normal circumstances and after the heroin she was going make this personal. Still, the guy kept his mouth shut.

Well, I guess I would try my luck then. I got closer and crouched right in front of him. "Look dude, you're fucked anyways, you simply can decide how muc-" I couldn't finish that sentence because the idiot tried to use his free arm to grab me by the neck. I could see it coming form a mile away, so I simply grabbed his hand before it reached my neck and in one movement I stood up, rotating his shoulder to its limit. Just enough to make it painful. Cass had also moved in and as soon as I got out of the way she kicked the guy in the middle of his face, braking his nose and making him bleed in the process. She was about to kick him again before I called out to her:

"Owl!"

That made her stop and reconsider. However, it seemed that her kick had also made our guy reconsider.

"You think I'm scared of two Niños?" He said in a thick Latin accent. "I tell you anything and then I'm toast!"

"You're already toast," Answered Cass. "we're simply letting you decide when and how." To punctuate that statement I twisted his shoulder a little more.

"Ahhhhh! Okay, okay, I will talk! I was going to buy me another Dosis but I didn't have enough cash for a batch so I had to collect some!"

"Who sells it to you?" Please Cass don't tell me you are thinking about going after a drug dealer.

"I buy at a provider at Richmond 12561! Please, my arm!" I had probably twisted too much so I eased up on the pressure, but still kept a firm grip on his arm.

"Okay, I believe you, so this is what we'll do. We're going to give you a little warning, let you go and you'll make sure that you never see any of us again, because I will remember your face and if I ever see it again I won't let you off so easily. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Yes!" Cass had scared the shit out of this guy.

"Good. Axis, I think the arm will do as reminder."

Wait, what? She had to be kidding, but when I looked at her I saw that she was deathly serious. I couldn't argue without breaking the effect we had on the guy, so I only had one thing to do. I'd always talked about how some villains were better of dead anyways, some muggers arm was nothing compared to that. I had to put my money were my mouth was. I was stalling, I couldn't do this.

Okay, let's start slow. I slowly twisted the arm, ignoring the mugger's cries. The more resistance I encountered the less I could do it. I had to concentrate. Look at the shoulder. It's not meat, it's not connected to a human being. It's just the juncture between a lever and a place of leverage, the screams aren't there. It has a maximum rotation and an elasticity that will not allow it to move further. I had more leverage than the elasticity of its parts and the unions which caused it's movement. All it would take was some joules to hyper-rotate the lever a measly five percent more and preventing the rest of the parts from snapping it back into place.

It's just a bunch of numbers and shapes, so I simply push a little harder.

The scream makes me come back to reality as I drop the leve- arm, arm! I slowly back down and out of the alley trying to look away from the mugger and breath all of this out. Some minutes later Cass joins me having already freed the guy.

"Well back to the roof-" I grab her shoulders and slam her into a wall.

"What the fuck was that!"

"That was some justice at work; that guy won't hurt anyone else for a while after this."

"Justice? You sure it wasn't personal?"

"What? Hell no! Don't go blaming me just because you feel a little guilty! Nobody forced you to do this!" I let her go at that. She was right no one forced me. I could have said no and simply let the guy go.

"I'm sorry. You're right."

"Whatever. Let's walk some, yeah? Clear our heads. Maybe it'd be best to call it quits for tonight."

We started walking after that and a couple of blocks later we took off the helmets and jackets, simply carrying them in our hands. We talked and walked a lot. About nothing and everything. We never touched the topic of that night's escapade. I tried not to think about how easy it had been to hurt that guy. Some hours later, Cass said that there was something she wanted to show me.

We ended up at the docks, having escalated a building again until we found ourselves back on top of another rooftop.

"What did you want to show me?" I asked.

"You'll have to wait some more for that. Let's sit for now."

We found an AC unit and I sat resting my back to it while Cass laid on the roof with her head on my legs. It had been a long night, I let out a tired yawn and Cass noticed.

"Tired?"

"Yes. Not all of us can go without sleep miss Nightowl."

"Well sorry mister Axis." She said laughing and then spoke again in a calmer and more sincere voice. "Really I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. For being a weird friend, for making you follow me along in this craziness, for putting you at risk, for making you hurt people and for-"

"Hey." I interrupted seeing that she was about to have a break down. I started to stroke her head. "Calm down. No one made me do this, I'm doing it because you're my friend."

"I made you do it."

"Cass I'm old enough to thin-"

She interrupted me, suddenly sitting up. "No you idiot: I'm manipulating you!"

I took a deep breath and spoke. "I already knew." More like suspected actually.

"What?" She hadn't expected that answer.

"Cass, we've known ourselves for over a decade. You have perfect memory and one hell of a learning rate. It stands to reason that you know me so well that you could probably make me jump off a cliff and think it was my idea in the first place. I knew that before we went off heroing and I let you do it."

"Why?"

"Because I trust you. You're my best friend."

She broke down after that and hugged me while sobbing on my shirt. I hugged her back and when she calmed down the sun was already rising.

"Look: the sunrise."

"That's what I wanted to show you." She said, and then she told me. "This is the best place to watch the sunrise, back when Dad died and mom started breaking down, I started to sneak out at night just to get out of the house. Back then the time of the night when everybody slept was still the quiet hours for me.

"My parents tried to stay awake when they realized I never slept, but they never managed to, so eventually the hours between bedtime and getting up in the mornings were completely silent and tranquil. I used to think, back when I was little, that the world belonged to me in that span of time where it usually belonged to sleep.

"Then Mom began to fill those hours with things too and I felt scared because I had lost not only my dad but that little piece of my world too. So I used to run away and watch the sunrise form different places in the city. This was always my favorite so I always come here when I'm feeling down. I thought that it would do you good after tonight."

We stayed there for a while after that. We talked about stupid things. She never said anything about the guy, the heroin or her mom, and neither did I say anything about the fear I felt of how easy had been to break that guy's arm, how little guilt I felt or how that lack of guilt made my stomach lurch.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up at two thirty in the afternoon. Having had only six hours of sleep I can proudly say that it took me just five minutes and half-brushing my teeth to realize that I had slept over at Cassie's. The fact that she had a smaller tooth brush helped. The moment of realization was accompanied by a shrug as I finished brushing my teeth and walked down the stairs to see if Cass had made breakfast.

I found my best friend reading the newspaper with two pieces of toast and mug containing a beverage which was half milk and half coffee in front of her. She looked up from the newspaper as I sat and started munching on the toast.

"You know, most people say good morning to those who make them breakfast." She said.

"Screw you." I mumbled, although it had probably come out as a 'skw yoo.' It was too early and I hadn't had my coffee yet; Cass' shenanigans could wait until I was completely awake.

"Well, down with that coffee then if you're so sleepy. C'mon: I used your measuring cups! It's just the way you like it." Cass, however, understood the underlying complexities of my sleepy mind, so my lack of eloquence didn't impede our communication at all.

I glared at her and, with one hand, I brought the mug to my lips and downed the coffee in one go. After lowering the cup, I kept myself I kept myself as busy with my toast as Cass did with her newspaper, and waited for the caffine to kick in.

I was just finishing my second toast when I felt the effects of the beverage. The room started to get brighter and louder as a wave of energy hit me. I closed my eyes and covered my ears until the worst passed.

I had always had this problem with Caffeine, for some reason the stuff was too damn effective on me. My senses became more sensitive – not sharpened, sensitive – and a wave of artificial energy hit me. Of course all it goes as fast as it comes, but depending on how much I took it can be really bothersome. The one good thing about it was that it woke me up like nothing else. Which was the reason I had left some hand-made measuring cups at Cassie's house: more often than not sleeping isn't on the schedule when I come here.

"It's always amusing to see you drink coffee. Do you think that shit happens because of your powers?" Cass asked while looking at me over her newspaper.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Probably, but you have powers too and you can drink coffee like a normal person, so maybe not."

"Maybe we should test it. Have you ever drank alcohol?" She asked with a smile.

"No, and I hope that you haven't either." I answer and, wanting to change topics, I ask. "What's up with the newspaper?"

"Oh this?" She asks, wiggling it a little. "I always read the news; it pays to stay informed."

"Uh huh. Surely it's not because you're looking to see if two new vigilantes happen to appear in the news, right?"

"Well maybe," She admits sheepishly. "But it's all hogged with a Gotham story."

"Why is there a story about Gotham in a Star city newspaper?" I asked, my interest now somewhat piqued.

"There was an attack on Gotham's mayor and our mayor was involved too because he was there for an event or some other official matter. The article isn't very clear on that."

"So a villain attacks the mayor? Must have been a really crazy one if he did that: for one thing that big Mother Goddess surely put her foot down and they would also need to deal with Batman." After a moment I added "Was it the Joker?"

"Nope! Believe it or not it was Bishop Nature." That gave me pause.

"Bishop Nature? The Bishop Nature? Freaky plants and all?"

"I had the same reaction. Here," She said, handing me the newspaper "See it for yourself."

I grabbed it and skimmed through it. Cass was telling the truth, now it made sense as to why a Gotham story made the news here. Sure, our mayor was involved too, but someone from the Mother cult doing something so subversive was unheard of, much less a bishop herself. The cult had faced off against the authorities before, true, but it had never reached this level of violence without previous escalation.

"Incredible. I wonder why the hell did she would do something like that?"

"Page seventy one, third paragraph. She says that it was the will of the Mother."

"What do you think will happen now?" I asked her.

"I dunno. This looks like she means war, but with Bishop Nature in jail and Bishop Tranquility off the map she only has three bishops left. Like it or not, Fear and Beast aren't as powerful as those two and no one knows what the deal is with Sight. So I don't know, shit is going to hit the fan there but it could end in any number of ways." I started thinking about it when something that Cass said struck me.

"Tranquility is off the map?" I asked.

"Yes, no-one has seen him in almost eight months and their mighty Goddess hasn't said anything about it."

"Hmmm." I didn't know what to say. On one hand, Gotham was in for a hell of a ride; on the other, it didn't actually affect me. "Well Batman will deal with it. He always does."

"That's kind of dismissive you know?"

"What do you want me to say? It's bad, yes, but things like that are always happening. I'll worry if it happens here, meanwhile there's nothing I can do."

Cass sighed "One day I'm going to grow you some empathy"

"I have empathy!" I protested

"For people you care about. Everyone else might as well not exist for you." 

"I'm not going to discuss my empathy right now. I have things to do and places to be." I said, and it was the truth. If I didn't get going I would be late to my date.

"Wait, the date thing was serious? I thought you were joking." She laughed.

"It wasn't a joke. My sister set it up, I gotta be at the pier in.." I looked at my watch. "Ninety minutes and 56 seconds."

"It doesn't take that long to reach the pier from here, you've got time to spare." She said, dismissing my worries.

"I know, but I want to take a shower at home first."

"Use the one here; you have some clothes from all the times you slept over." She said pointing at the stairs. "Go, I'll prepare you some clothes for when you get out."

It wasn't a bad idea at all, so I nodded and went upstairs to the bathroom. I undressed myself and set to the task of regulating the shower temperature. It wasn't the first time I showered here so I already knew to turn the hot water knob 65"34'1° and the cold water one 32"45'13°. It would take around three minutes for the water to reach it's peak temperature - it wasn't an exact number though since it all depended from a number of factors which I never took the trouble to calculate.

"So, who is the lucky lady?" Cass asked me from outside.

"Lisa Dauber." I stuck my hand under the water, it was still cold. "Did you shower recently?"

"Yes, just before you woke up." Damn, I started to fiddle with the water trying to make it reach an acceptable temperature. "So Lisa huh?"

"Yep, what can you tell me?" Most people didn't know this, but it was amazing what you could overhear and piece together with a perfect memory. As such, Cass had more information about anyone than the whole rumor mill put together.

"Not much, she is one year older than us and shares some classes with your sister. Her parents must have some serious money because I have seen her with two different phones this year, both the latest model at the time, and she always wears brand clothes. She does soccer in some club or the other which I never caught the name of and sprained her ankle two months ago. She does seem to like smart guys, but looks play a part in it too. Physically, she is your type."

I managed to regulate the temperature and entered the shower enjoying as the water stream washed away all the sweat and grime from last night away. "Type? I don't have a type." I said as I grabbed the soap.

"Yes you do."

"How so?" I asked as I finished soaping myself up and went onto the shampoo.

"You like short girls with big asses. You don't mind tall ones as long as they have some ass, however short without ass doesn't interest you. You don't care much about boobs if there isn't much, although more is better with you. I think you like blondes, but not sure about it."

I stopped rinsing myself. "Where did this all come from?"

"Lots of bits and pieces remembered over the years. Also you stare at my ass when you think I'm not paying attention."

I froze on the spot, refusing to make any sound which could be taken for an answer.

"Hahaha. Don't worry dude, you're my best friend: I don't mind if you stare a little. You would be surprised at how many people do."

"I'm not talking about this with you Cass."

"C'mon! It's all in good fun. You are a healthy young man and-"

"No! Cass stop. Really." I told her.

"Bah. What a pussy."

I stepped out of the shower and opened the door just enough to allow Cass to put her arm inside and give me my clothes. She had chosen some jeans and a T-shirt for me, which is basically my to go choice for most situations. I dressed myself again and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Soooo..." Cass began.

"I'll be going." I said. I was going to be really early to my date, but better that than dealing with Cass.

"We still need to talk about our next escapade!" I heard her shout out to me as I descended the stairs and grabbed my jacket.

"We've got phones!" I shouted back as I passed through the door.

67.8791 minutes later saw me sitting on a bench at the pier and wondering if I actually had a type. I came to the conclusion that I do and God forgive me; Cass was right. I would like to say that there were worse things, but I couldn't think of any. At least it was Cass and not Marie.

Thinking about my sister made me remember the fact that she was the one who organized this date. I hadn't even spoken with Lisa, not even to set the place and time for the date. It was my sister who chose the pier, because according to her I needed something to show off since I wasn't much of a talker. I had obviously objected to that, but after she made me practice holding a conversation as if she were Lisa I was forced to concede the point.

I was abruptly taken out of my thoughts by a pair of hands covering my eyes.

"Guess who it is?" Said a vaguely familiar voice, I had actually met her before if she sounded this familiar.

"Lisa?" I guessed.

"Yep." She said taking her hands out of my eyes, allowing me to stand and turn around to look at her.

She stood at the short height of 165.567456 meters, her blond hair reaching just 3.75675 centimeters past her shoulders. Her green eyes stood out against her lightly tanned skin and her round face wasn't exactly symmetrical – no one's was though – as she flashed me a smile. She was wearing black skinny jeans, the kind that came with rips, which showed of her well worked legs and a light blue blouse.

My first thought was that she was pretty.

"I suppose you're James and not some stranger I just randomly surprised." She chuckled.

"I am. Want to get going?" I asked with a smile and uncertain of what else to say. Luckily for me years of bantering with Cass prevented me from just standing there mute.

"Yeah, let's go." She answered still smiling.

With that she entwined her arm with mine and we started walking through the pier, looking for a stand or something else with which to occupy our time. We went through the basic greetings as we walked, some ice-breakers and inane chatter to get past the awkward part. It was very different from talking to Cass or Marie, who, shamefully, were the only girls my age that I interacted with in a constant basis. There was none of the playful banter and one upping game I had with Cass, nor the wit wars most of my conversations Marie became. It was like talking to a pleasant Zack, one which I was a lot less familiar with but also more interested in. I was having fun, all in all.

"You know if Marie hadn't shown me your photo, I would never have guessed you were siblings. You look so different!" She said.

"That's because we aren't." I answered, surprised that she didn't knew. Marie probably didn't talk about her family much. "We are step-siblings."

"Soo your..." She left the sentence incomplete.

"Dad."

"And her Mom?" She asked tilting her head.

"Yes."

"Hmm" She nodded pensively, before changing the topic. "You know I had never tought that Marie's brother would ask me out through her."

That made me almost miss a step.

"She told you that?" I asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because she told me the exact opposite." I answered.

We then had a moment in which we looked at each other before we kept walking. It was a surprise, but such was my sister and we both knew her well enough to know she meant well. Or at least that's what I hoped that little moment was and that Lisa wasn't thinking something different.

"Hey you used to play Basketball right?" She asked me with a small glint in her eyes.

"Yes why?" I asked back. The question had come out of nowhere.

"How about a little competition?" She asked pointing to a ring-tossing stand.

"Alright." I answered with a small and started heading towards the stand, but she planted her hand on my chest stopping me in my tracks.

"Wait a sec. How a bout a little bet to make it more interesting?" She proposed with a smile. I was quite confused, if she asked me about basketball then doesn't she think I'm going to win? Is she testing to see what I ask for or does she have a trick up her sleeve.

"Alright. What do you want if you win?" I asked, knowing full well that as long as it a throwing competition I had almost no chance of losing.

"When I win," She said. "You'll have to buy me ice-cream for a week!" I looked at her with a strange loopsided smirk. "What? I like sweet things. What do you want when you don't win?"

"If I win..." I said as if I were considering it, when in reality I already knew what I would ask for. "I want a kiss."

"Ooooh. Quite straightforward aren't we?" She said with a twist of her hips that wasn't lost on me. Even so, Cass had inured me to such things.

"Yes." I answered looking at her eyes, not letting her get to me.

"Fine" She said after holding up my stare a little longer. "You're going to lose anyway."

So we went to the stand which was luckily free, and explained the situation to the owner - but not before I had the chance to check that the hoops were actually bigger than the cubes in which you hand to land them. The guy smiled pleasantly and agreed to give us each fifteen hoops for our competition. When it was time to pay I encountered another surprise in the form of two hundred bucks in bills inside my jacket, along with a small paper that tried to pass off as a fifty dollar dressing service ticket. I would like to say that I had a small moment of moral indecision in which I hesitated before using the money, but the truth is that I had no problem paying with the mugger's stolen money. Cass didn't and, in my opinion, she was more ethical than me.

Thus the competition started and I found out why Lisa had been so confident: she managed to land eleven out of fifteen rings. It was admittedly surprising and for a moment I considered losing on purpose, but my sister had said to show off and she probably knew better than me. The look on Lisa's face as I proceeded to nonchalantly land all fifteen rings without any visible effort was priceless, and she wasn't the only one because the stand-owner was looking wide eyed at me too.

When I finished, I turned to her with a smirk, which turned out to be a big mistake because she then called foul and demanded a rematch in another game. This is how we went all over the pier during the afternoon with her choosing different games each time and me beating her and each and every one. It was a bad luck that she happened to chose all games that relied in hand-eye coordination and physics more than anything. I did simulate almost losing by a very small margin towards the end because I couldn't take watching her getting more and more competitive each time. We were both having fun, our little wager forgotten.

To her credit she did smart up at the end.

"Feet!" She shouted while we were looking around for another game after I had beaten her at ball-throwing. " If it's with feet I can beat you!"

"Competitive much?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." She said also smiling, before dragging me off to a nearby arcade and it's dancing game.

We paid and then it was up. To my shame I had to admit that she was right: this game was more up her alley than mine; my footwork was a bit lacking. Even then we were quite closely matched, she had more rhythm and coordination, but my reflexes and timing were better. She was a beast at dancing, her whole body moving along with the music dancing a choreography that she invented in the moment to match the music as it came. In comparison I looked like a log: my upper body was almost completely stiff except for when movement was needed to add or subtract momentum from my feet.

In the end I didn't lose because I was bad at it. The reason for my defeat laid in the fact that, although I could see her dancing at my side with my peripheral vision, I still had my eyes glued to the screen watching the next moves. Or at least I did until the temptation overcame me and I risked a glance to see her.

I can say it was quite worth it. Oh yes I missed the next step instantly, but her dancing was a delight to my eyes. I suppose that Cass was right and I did have a type. Luckily the girl next to me ticked almost every box. She wasn't perfect, when you could perceive and measure the world through it's basic mathematical foundation like I did nothing ever was, but she was close enough. I had to admit that it was very superficial of me, but I didn't care.

"Take that!" She said with a smile gracing her lightly sweat face. I was feeling the exercise too though.

"Well, I have to admit you did manage to win against me at least once." I conceded as we exited the arcade.

"You are a beast James. How the hell did you get that good?"

"I'm just talented." I laughed it off. It was technically true.

"Well it's pretty late." It was actually, the sun had already set and the moon could be seen in the sky. "I had a lot of fun today; you're a blast dude."

"I could say the same. How about movies next time?" I asked her.

"You think there's gonna be a next time?" She asked me with her head tilted, but I could tell she was joking.

"Of course." I said turning away. "See you later."

"Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?"

I turned back to her. "What am I-"

My sentence got interrupted by Lisa pulling my head down and kissing me. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the taste of her lips on mine. I would like to say that she tasted like strawberry under the moonlit piers, but the truth is that I was clumsy kisser and Lisa just tasted like Lisa. Not that Lisa wasn't a great flavor.

She separated herself from me. "You did win our bet after all." She turned away as she walked towards wherever she was heading as she waved me off . "See ya later!"

I stood there enjoying the taste on my lips for a few seconds more before deciding two things. One: I too had to go. Two: My sis may be a bitch, but damn if I didn't appreciate having her right now. My next thought wasn't so cheerful, because I owed her one now.


	11. Chapter 11

Introduction. 11

It was Thursday again and school was unsurprisingly tedious, although slightly nerve-wracking. Not because of the subjects, I'd gotten used to not needing to pay attention to most of them, but because of the bigger problems plaguing my thoughts.

The three main problems that occupied my attention right now were Cass, Mr. Broker, and my social life. Cass had been playing hooky all week in order to stake out the drug den, the fact that it was her idea to do so was a pleasant surprise. Her powers were perfectly suited for such a task, although her patience left a lot to be desired. Still, seeing as she hasn't gone after them without me, I supposed that it was alright.

Since Cass was the one staking out that left me to think of a plan. My obvious first thought was to tip off the police, which went about as well as could be expected: with the police leaving a few hundred dollars richer. Given that this was Brick's part of the docks we weren't too surprised with this result. Cass had memorized their faces and the plate of the patrol car, so that could be left for later.

With Plan A, letting someone else handle this, out of the window; we had to move on to Plan B: handling it ourselves. They do say that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself, so if I wanted to handle thirty-something – they came and went – guys with weapons and who knows how many pounds of drugs and illegal money, I needed to roll up my sleeves and start working.

According to Cass, the place was a small warehouse. The building was two stories tall, but the only thing resembling a second floor was a series of catwalks and a small office located at one of the corners of the building, which could only be reached through a flight of stairs. Besides the warehouse there was an alley shared with the wall of an empty storefront, and to the other side there was a building with an unknown number of homeless people squatting inside.

That particular building was what spoiled my second plan, which was to set fire to the place and let the fire fighters handle it. I do have to admit that burning drugs wasn't a good idea anyway and we probably would have lost control of the fire due to the winds coming form the coast fanning the flames. This was how I considered and dismissed a whole batch of plans based around using big strikes to get rid of the den. I thought about flooding it, but had no idea were the water would come from; cutting their electricity, which was possible but didn't solve any of our problems; and even blowing them up, although while I could probably work out a clean demolition if we had explosives, we didn't. Besides, blowing up a building with people inside wasn't something I would do under any circumstances.

With most of the easy solutions not available to us, I had to get creative and actually put down some serious effort. That was when my other two problems kicked in; I could come up with a plan, but doing so while spending my day trying to avoid Mr. Broker after missing whichever club I was supposed to go to, as well as spliting my attention between that and my friends and messaging with Lisa? That was a lot harder, and I actually couldn't keep up, resulting in another meeting with Mr. Broker when he caught me at my locker.

Mr. Broker had a way about him that made people relax around him, so when he asked me again after my first two refusals to accompany him to his office to chat a bit, I actually accepted instead of going to class like I was supposed to. It was the school's counselor anyway nothing bad would happen and there was no way a conversation with Mr. Broker could be stressful.

That was how I found myself back inside his little charming office again, playing with his newton's cradle and trying to make it swing for as long as possible. I managed it in three tries and then put it back on his desk.

"Well James, how have you been recently?" He opened up the conversation.

"Same as always, I suppose. School, friends, that sort of thing you know?" I tried not to sound like I planning to assault a drug den next Saturday night. I think I succeeded.

"Really? You seemed quite busy trying to avoid me all week."

"Emmm," I thought about denying it, but there was no point in lying to Mr. Broker. It's not as if I had done something wrong. Well not as far as he knew, anyway."Yes, a little."

"Well I'm glad that you don't feel the need to lie to me, but why did you miss the robotics club meeting? Did something happen?" He said looking straight at me, as if the possibility of me not going on purpose hadn't even crossed his mind. It did make me feel a little bad about it, but not much.

"I kind of forgot that I was supposed to go; I've been busy with a project lately." I suppose it could be called that.

"Ah, a project!" He said with a smile. "I suppose you're working on it with your friend Cassie, given that she hasn't attended school all week."

"Yes, Cass has been very busy with our project lately." I said with a little hesitation. I would be worried about giving him the wrong idea, but I didn't know what the wrong idea would be.

"Well tell me more about it. What kind of project is it? Something big?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Emmm, it's still taking shape so I dunno how it's gonna end up," I evaded the question, "I don't even know if it's going to be big, although Cass is surely expecting it."

"It sounds as if this project is more Cassie's idea than yours. Kind of like she is taking you along for the ride."

I though a little about it and realized that he was right; This had all been Cassie's idea from the beginning, hadn't it?

"Heh," He continued. "It reminds a little of when I was young: I also had a… friend I suppose you could call her, that dragged me all over the place with her plans and ideas." He said smiling, clearly reminiscing about his younger days. I didn't think Mr. Broker was old enough to talk like that, or at least he didn't look like it. I wasn't going to ask.

"I hope your own project isn't as… exciting as mine were." He said, again doubting which word to use, and for a single second I actually feared that he knew everything and that all those words were simply euphemisms to see if I would confess, but I discarded that idea as ridiculous. How would he even know about it?

"Well I don't know," I said with a grin of my own, "Things are kind of picking up lately with Cass."

"Hahaha." He laughed as if we shared some kind of inside joke, and that little doubt that he knew what was going on resurfaced once again before I dismiss it as Mr. Broker simply being a happy man.

"Alright, here's what we are going to do:" He looks directly into my eyes and all those worries simply melt away, "We both know that you aren't going to go to any club just because I asked you to, and at the end of the day the whole objective of that was to get you up and doing something productive, so if you promise me that you'll keep up that project of yours as far as you can carry it then I'll talk with the principal to cut you some slack."

I smiled, happy that one of my problems was simply disappearing on its own. "Yes Mr. Broker."

He smiled back at me. "Ok, now scram to your class and send whoever is outside in, there's always someone outside."

I stood up from my seat. For once things were looking up for me: school would pose no more problems and I was getting closer to figuring out what would happen on Saturday. I only had to fix another date with Lisa and I could consider my week accomplished.

As luck would have it Lisa was waiting just outside Mr. Broker's office when I got out. By the way her eyes opened and her eyebrows raised it seemed that she was just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

"Hey there." I said.

"James! I didn't expect to see you here." She said. She was smiling nervously and for some reason she was averting her gaze as if the wall next to me had some kind of interesting secret to offer. Something must have happened.

"Is everything alright?" I ask with concern in my voice.

"Yes, I was just-"

"Lisa! Nice to see you. Please come in." Mr. Broker interrupted her from his office finally realising that there were two students standing in his doorway.

And as if that was some sort of divine command Lisa took that chance to squirrel past me and into the office, closing the door behind her without so much as a goodbye.

I stood there befuddled, wondering what had just happened, before a message from Cass made itself known in my phone and I remembered that I had other matters to attend to. Distracted as I was by my other activities, it would be a while before I remembered this particular incident.

-

The night was pleasantly cold under my jacket and helmet, perhaps a sign of winter coming early this year, and I would like to say that the sight was just as pleasant but that would be an horrible lie.

The three buildings in front of me were ugly and run down, not having seen any repairs or maintenance in at least a decade. There was almost no paint to speak of, the color of the constructions instead being decided by a mix of dirt, mortar and bricks that had cracked as the years went by, as well as a scant few ivy's that would stay there until the buildings went down.

In fact, I would have never noticed that a drug operation was being held here were it not for the constant amount of people coming in and out, either by themselves or in groups of three, from the warehouse in the middle. It was probably the best-maintained building of the three, if nothing else due to the amount of activity that went on there. The small construction was as I had described before: pure brick and mortar. It was basic in that it had only two doors – one in the front and one in the back – and its only windows were located at ceiling level. It had a height of 10.67897585 meters in spite of only having one floor and one catwalk level, probably because the wares inside it were supposed to be piled up. No exit through the roof was visible.

The first word that sprung to mind while looking at it was defensible. I could think of no ways to directly assault the place, in fact anyone trying to do so would probably be gunned down through the windows by the people standing on the catwalks, or as they crossed through the only doors, in the case that they weren't barricaded from the inside.

Luckily there would be no need for either Cass or me to get shot. Right now we were lying down next to each other on the roof of a taller building in the adjacent street, surveying the place with two pairs of binoculars as we went through the plan once again.

"Okay, so what are we going to do?" I asked her for what was probably the fifth time. The feeling of her body next to mine provided a sense of comfort that almost outweighed the sense of dread that came from assaulting a drug den and certainly didn't outweigh the sense of dread that came from relying on Cass to actually listen to me and her scarce common sense.

"Dude really? I got perfect memory, I should be the one asking you this, not the other way around." Her head turned towards me and even under the helmet I could picture her face in my mind as she twisted to grab my hand, propped it up between our faces and squeezed. "Look, I know that you're nervous and you probably think this is all the most reckless and crazy thing that I could ever propose, but I need you to trust me when I say that we can do this. You know for a fact that I'm not half as dumb as I act and if after watching these guys for a week straight I still think that we can take them, then it's true. Let's do it. Together."

I squeezed back; Cass certainly knew how to calm me down, and if there was anyone I trusted in this world it was her. I was still worried, but I could deal with it and push forward, even as a small thought crept its way into my head; a small whisper asking how much of this was my idea, how much Cass actually accounted for my motivations for doing this, and how much she played that to her advantage.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I stood up. "Together. C'mon, it's time to start. Let's get into position."

Cass stood up beside me and we both started our last preparations.

"Okay let's see," She began. "Belt?"

"Check." I groped it, rolled up just below my ribs.

"Pipe?"

"Check." I grabbed it from the floor and kept it at hand to hide it up my sleeve once we got down.

"Lighter?"

"Check," In my left pocket. "Did you place the Molotov cocktails?"

"Check, just where we agreed and before you ask so is the speaker. Did you set your phone on silent?"

"Damn, I knew I forgot something," I took out my phone and proceeded to set it on silent. "Ok all ready?"

"All ready. We're doing it man. We're making this happen," She said, the smile evident in her voice. Meanwhile, my own heart was doing all it could to [break free of my chest OR break out of my chest] and jump out of my body. Or at least that's how I felt.

I took a deep breath. "Ok, Let's go."

-

Given that attacking the building directly was tantamount to suicide, I decided to focus our efforts outside. According to Cass there were thirty-three people working here. Out of those thirty-three there were seven which seemed to be the bosses, Cass had identified them by the fact that they all wore the same exact clothes: jeans, a denim jacket, trainers, and a shirt with a bulge underneath that was most likely a bulletproof vest. These seven people only went outside one at a time and came back every few days for a few hours before another one went out again. Unluckily, right now all seven were inside.

The plan was, in fact, very simple: they had three groups of three people going on patrol around a grid of nine blocks with the warehouse in the center. Cass had studied them for days and their patrol routes never changed, nor did they ever cross paths, except for when they entered or left the warehouse. This benefited us in that we could safely take them out one at a time. The next group of three would come out in seven minutes, although we didn't know the exact time since they weren't so precise. Once they had enough distance between each other we would attack and knock all three out. We would do the same with the next two groups, since they wouldn't suspect anything is wrong until the first group failed to return, and by then Cass and I would be reunited on one of the rooftops, where we would decide what to do after seeing their response.

Obviously there was a great deal of things that could go wrong with this plan: if one of the goons beat us instead of the inverse then that was it, similarly if we couldn't handle them before they alerted their buddies or made too much noise then that would be it too.

Neither Cass nor I were stupid, if we got busted we had prepared the molotovs and the speaker to escape. Cass had connected the cheap speaker to a burner phone which would broadcast the ring tone if we called it and that was supposed to draw our pursuers towards the noise, likewise the molotovs were a mix of pharmacy-grade alcohol I made myself. They were supposed to burn and burn out fast too, a mere distraction or deterrent for if they followed us. I said 'supposed to' because if I had made a mistake then they might actually cause a lot of injuries.

As my thoughts floated all over the place, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching, so I focused once again on my task and crept around the corner. As I did so I found myself facing the first of the goons I would be knocking out tonight, evidenced by the bulge in his jacket which was obviously a badly concealed gun. We were 20.7979302103 meters apart from each other and if he thought anything about the fact that I was wearing motorcycle leathers and a helmet he showed no sign of it.

The man hardly acknowledged me as we drew near and I took note of his body's structure and mass distribution while keeping track of his hands and the amount of time it would take him to draw and shoot me. Once we got within three meters of each other I decided that I was in a safe zone and I would be able to knock the gun out of his hands before he had the chance to pull the trigger. Still, it's not until we passed each other that I sprung into action.

In one swift movement I pivoted backwards, and as the centrifugal force made the pipe slide out of my sleeve, my leg moved past my upper body. Once it reached the end of the pivot I grabbed the pipe with as much strength as I could muster and added the force of my hips and back muscles to the rotation.

The end of the pipe collided with the back of the goon's head, it's purpose not to break the bone but to transfer the inertia to the brain causing it to rotate along it's center of mass.

The effect was almost instantaneous and the man fell to the floor, not getting up again. I was more than startled by it, of course it was all on purpose since I had researched knockout hits beforehand and my aim was to actively cause one. Even so, it wasn't like I had the chance to practice OR earlier so the consequences surprised me.

Once I'd gotten over my shock, and after checking that no, I hadn't broken anything and he wasn't bleeding, I dragged the body towards a trash container. I was prepared to unceremoniously drop him inside when I noticed the butt of his gun poking through his jacket. I stood there for a few moments despite knowing that I was on a clock and that I needed to get in position for the second trio. Still, after some initial hesitation I decided to take the gun.

I hoped that I would never need to find out whether or not I was willing to use it, but if it came down to it then I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Whatever the consequences both of those scenarios entailed.

-

It wasn't until after I'd beaten my third goon that I heard it: gunshots.

My heart stopped for a few seconds as I thought of all the things that could have gone wrong, that could have caused any of those bastards to pull out a gun and start shooting. It wasn't too long before my thoughts centred on Cass.

I left the man where he was and took his gun too, even though I had left the second man with his, and started running. The gunshots weren't diminishing, in fact there were even more as the seconds went by, which meant that Cass was still alive.

If she was in position to attack her next group, then Cass and I were on opposite corners of the three-by-three grid that the drug-dealers patrolled. That meant I needed to cross through the warehouse block If I wanted to be there as fast as possible, but I couldn't risk being seen or else I would need to defend myself from the guys that must be pouring out of the warehouse right now looking for my friend.

I decided after a few seconds of running and mental calculations that it would be faster to cross over the rooftops of the middle block rather than getting there by running outside the the grid.

As soon as the first building of that block was within sight I start looking all across it's wall, searching for each and every topographical irregularity that could give me purchase or leverage to get to the roof.

That was how I jumped up from a trash can 1.237823 meters away; hit the wall at full speed with both soles of my feet fully pressed against it; and proceeded to run vertically and horizontally up and along the wall, my shoes finding purchase on the cracks and bricks until I grabbed a windowsill with both my hands and propped myself up to a pipe which I managed to climb for 5.732823 seconds before it broke under the strain of my weight. It was a little earlier than my calculations suggested, but the fact that I hadn't wasted any of my upward momentum allowed me to kick off towards an old AC unit and from there to the highest window and on to the roof.

It wasn't until I reached my current elevation that I noticed that the gunshots were coming from the warehouse. I couldn't help but worry about Cassie's life and want to murder her, as much as those two thoughts seemed mutually exclusive. I couldn't believe she had decided to assault the goddamn place.

I ran the rest of the way to the warehouse; it was only two rooftops until I reached the one adjacent to the drug-den. The building I was on right now shared a wall with it and was just a little shorter in height, in fact the window leading into the warehouse touched both the roofs of my building and its own.

When I had a clear view of the catwalk I didn't stop, instead I sped up just a little and once I reached the border I jumped through the glass feet first; this way my feet collided with the catwalk as my inertia carried me through the gap. The moment I hit the gap I flexed both my feet, shifting my center of mass in the process and allowing the remaining inertia to flip me upright as I passed under the railing.

As soon as I stood upright I pulled both guns out. I had entered through the southern side of the building, so Cass must have gone through the northern side if she had followed the plan up until now. The fact that the guys under me seemed to be shooting towards the front door reinforced this idea, even as the various grates blocked my sight.

With a gun in each hand I shot the wall once each with both of them. I took note of the trajectory the bullets followed along with the current variables and the weight of the gun. I adjusted my aiming equations accordingly, now having taken into account all factors. I had thirteen bullets in my left gun and fourteen in my right. Twenty-seven bullets in total for twenty-seven goons, if Cass had gotten that far into the plan. With no margin of error I took aim and shot.

I started with the goons farthest from me, hoping that the catwalk would block some bullets if anyone noticed I was shooting. My first two bullets struck true and the guns flew out of the goons' hands as lead collided with the weapons' barrels. This was no permanent take-down, but it should buy Cass some time to run.

Twenty-five left.

I started to run all over the catwalks, trying to get better angles and block lines of sight with the crates as I took shots.

Twenty-one left.

Now the goons were noticing that something was wrong, and a few even started shooting back at me. I took care to always turn my back to a side without shooting angles or people. Now I had to keep track of the trajectories of their own guns along with my own. I could still handle it. I wove around the path of the projectiles as I traversed the catwalks, dodging the lines of death only visible to me and striking down any of the ones that get too close.

Fifteen left.

I was almost down to half of my ammo and Cass hadn't left, guns still aimed towards the door even as more and more turned upon me. I could hear my ragged breathing as I forced it down into an efficient rhythm, ignoring the need for air I was already familiar with from having practiced sports. I knew exactly how much air my body needed and how much I had to give it for the expected results, having figured out the ratio long ago.

Even so, I was close to a slip up, and for the first time fear managed to pierce through the veil of adrenaline and I prayed to whatever might hear me that Cass would get out soon.

Nine left.

And I noticed something was wrong, now seeing the bodies lying on the floor to never get up again as blood pooled around their still forms. I was internally panicking now, I didn't know what was going on anymore, or whether Cass was alive or not, or why the number of people and gunshots wasn't decreasing. However, my mind was excellent at focusing on a task and right now aiming, running, dodging, and keeping track of all the trajectories was consuming as much of my attention as anything ever had. I was on my last legs and needed to get out soon. I started to move towards a wall.

One left.

I was almost close enough to jump out of the Eastern side of the building, not having been able to go back the way I came due to the bullets corralling me here, when I notice shape out of the corner of eye. I twist and the moment I see the shine of metal my finger pulls the trigger, the offending gun now falling out of my would-be-shooter's hand and down to the floor bellow the catwalk.

Zero left. I discarded one of my guns.

Only then did I notice] the fact that the man in front of me was wearing jeans, trainers, and a shirt with some clearly recent holes showing a bulletproof vest underneath. I immediately realized two things: firstly that he lost the jacket, and secondly that he was wearing a full face mask. This was one of the seven bosses who ran this place and the presence of a full face mask indicated that he had powers.

No better ideas forthcoming, I took my remaining gun in both hands, and I aimed at his head.

"Move and I shoot you," I said. My heart was once again beating wildly. I could hear it so clearly that I wondered how come he hadn't noticed my bluff based on its sound.

A few moments passed with both of us paralyzed, before his body relaxed and the redheaded man started walking towards me.

"No you won't," He said as he took the first few steps. "You would have shot me just after shooting my gun if you could. So either you ran out of ammo or you aren't willing. The shaking seems to indicate the latter."

I hadn't even noticed that I was shaking, but it was true. Every part of my body, sans my arms which were keeping the gun firmly trained on his head, was shaking as if afflicted by a wave of sub-zero cold.

The man kept advancing and I let him. Just as he crossed the three meter threshold I spoke.

"Do you really thin-" I didn't finish the sentence, instead I let the gun drop from my hands and closed the distance between us to deliver a finishing blow.

I feinted a low kick to the hips which he anticipated and blocked, so I cut the kick short and planted my foot in the ground so I could use the left over momentum to attack with a reverse side kick to the base of his head. Having expected the kick to connect I was momentarily stunned when he manged to duck under it, even more because I had taken that into account and aimed deliberately lower. I had mis-measured his speed.

Seeing that I had overextended myself, the masked man countered with a kick to my standing knee in order to make me fall. Thinking fast I twisted my body and brought my right knee up in a counter as my left leg went down. This time I felt my knee connect, but once again I misjudged him and instead of hitting his jaw it hit his chest and the vest with it.

He took advantage of the fact that I was airborne for a few moments to grapple my knee and try to throw me off the catwalk. I didn't let him, instead curling into a ball, putting both my hands under his arms, and with all my strength pushing them up as my knee pushed down. Having freed myself, and backed down to create some distance, I noticed something:

He was taller.

His height had a full 10.344634523 centimeters more than when I had first laid eyes upon him. That's when it hit me: I was fighting a shapeshifter. There weren't seven bosses with identical clothes, there was just one who could shapeshift.

That also meant I was in big trouble. If he could shape shift to get in and out of my reach that meant that his shifting was centered on his center of mass. Which meant that that and the surrounding areas were the only places I could reliably hit without risking him dodging, and even if he didn't block he was protected by the bulletproof vest. I wouldn't be able to hit him into submission.

Other than throwing him off of the catwalk there were no solutions that I could see and even then I was pretty sure that the only reason I wasn't full with holes already was friendly fire which wouldn't be a concern with only one person up here. I needed to create enough distance to safely jump out of the window and run.

I once again moved forward to attack, but this time I changed my style. Now I was looking to grapple and throw. However it was easier said than done; whenever I managed to reliably grab or hold him he just shapeshifted out of my hands, usually to either a much bigger or much smaller shape. Meanwhile I was still taking hits everywhere and although the leathers offered some protection, I could feel a few bruises forming. Apparently he maintained speed despite shifting his mass and the sumo weighted boxing jabs were threatening to break my bones.

It came out of nowhere when a big, broad shouldered man of clearly African descent came running from one of the side catwalks when we were exchanging blows in one of the few cross junctions.

My foe clearly recognized him because he quickly disengaged him and backed away. I did the same out of worry; if he was the reinforcement then I feared I would have little option but to risk getting shot.

"Fancy meeting you here Vest." Said my previous foe with a cheery tone.

"Can it Mask." Was the growled response of the new-comer who, by the name Vest and his own mask, was clearly another person with powers.

"Oh? Why? Are you angry? What happened? Did the Mafia decide to crash your drug stash-house to test their new guy? Don't worry the same exact thing happened to me!" Mask responded with what was clearly fake cheer.

Now I understood what was going on. It wasn't that Cass had assaulted the dru- I mean stash-house. The gunshots I had heard were the Mafia trying to do whatever it is that they planned to do with this place, and like an idiot I had mistaken it for Cass, who right now was probably at our rendezvous point worried like crazy about me. Meanwhile I was standing in the crossfire between Brick and the Mafia. Fuck.

"New guy?" Asked Vest, clearly confused while looking at me. "He isn't one of ours."

"He isn't one of mine either." Said Mask, also looking at me.

I was halfway tempted not to say nothing, but last time I had bluffed like that it hadn't ended well.

"Don't expect me to tattle on myself," I said with as much nonchalance as I could muster, "If the boss knows I came here I'm dead meat."

Obviously there was no boss whatsoever, but if they thought I had someone backing me up they might think twice before killing me. Or not, but I was already taking too many gambles, now that I knew that Cass was safe I needed to get the hell out of here.

"Russian?" Asked Vest, having fallen for my ruse. I tensed my entire body, as if I they had discovered something I didn't want discovered.

Mask saw it very clearly. "Yes, Russian. Although with such horrible tells it's a wonder the old crone hasn't done you in yet," He then looked to both of us, "I suppose a Mêlée à trois is order?"

Whatever that meant, it wasn't. I decidedly wasn't going to stick around to find out what the power of the guy named Vest was. However the three of us stood still without moving, whoever made the first move would be at a disadvantage. Either I made the first move and those two went after me, or against each other, as I ran, or one of them made it and attacked either the other or me. I didn't want to risk reacting to their attack and getting hit in the back, so I turned and ran.

We were mostly in the center of the building, so I had to run to the eastern wall and try to jump out the window and into the alley. I hoped I would able to break my fall without breaking any bones. I risked a glance behind me to confirm that yes, both of them were running after me. Or maybe Mask was and Vest was running after Mask.

I didn't matter, I knew how to lose them the moment I spotted a tower of crates high enough, 7.874565 meters away. As I drew closer to it so did Mask to me, being the faster of us three. Just as he was close enough to attack me I did something neither of them expected:

I planted my left foot into the railing and jumped…

...onto the crate tower, which became too unstable to use as a platform in less than five seconds, so I jumped again to the next catwalk and kept running towards the wall.

Mask must have sensed something was amiss when he saw me running towards a dead end, and he must have caught up fast, because he started running even faster then before. I didn't know what he was thinking. Maybe to him I was bluffing? Surely he didn't plan to meet my jump.

My musings were cut short by the incoming window. In fact they were cut so short that my next set of mental calculations were too hurried and I was sure that I would end with a sprained wrist when I fell, even as I jumped out of the window.

It turned out I was wrong, not because my calculations were off, but rather because Mask had jumped from his own window to collide with me in mid-air.

The next few moments were a mad, panicked, dash to try and maneuver myself into some kind of position that wouldn't end up with me dead, made even worse by Mask's own thrashing ruining my calculations as soon as I could even formulate them.

The most I could mange was to get on top of him scant moments before my own helmeted head hit the wall and we both hit the ground, a cracking sound coming from what I assumed was trash beneath us. I tried to stand up, but found myself unable to as a wave of nausea hit me the moment I tried to move my hands to push myself up from the ground and away from Mask. Mask himself saved me the trouble by bodily shoving me away from him, eliciting a cry of pain from me due to the sudden pain in my ribs and blurry vision.

I don't know what happened next, because my vision got even blurrier and now Vest was down here too, fighting Mask. I tried to move and run, but pain and black spots dancing in my vision prevented me from even standing. Again I don't know what happened, and now mask was on Vest's shoulders and trying to suffocate him, and it got harder to think, almost as if my thoughts were treading through a swamp full of tar. My vision got even blurrier and the only things that were still clear were the numbers and the equations, and I knew someone was standing over me, but I couldn't see them, only knowing it by the numbers which kept being clear as always despite my vision being non-existent now, and I didn't understand how that was possible because my numbers came from my vision, and I realized that now I couldn't hear anything either and that the pain far too far away.

The last thing I think is that the numbers were the only things that still made sense, that ever made sense. 

AN:

WOW longest chapter I've ever written and the end of arc one. I can't believe I started this almost a year ago. There were many times where I almost left it, but I want to thank you all for reading my story up to this point. I know this amy sound cheesy but this is my first shot at fiction and it is a big milestone for me. Initially the first arc was going to last 5 chapters of 2k words each and look were we are now. I can honestly say that some things were unexpected, Mr. Broker and Lisa weren't ever part of the original idea. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: What a wait, right? Sorry to everyone but IRL ensured and both me and Moriensdei suffered from it. Special thanks to Brill Adrien who betaed this chapter, and who, I hope, will put up with my writing for more.

Interlude 1.I (The investor)

"I understand."

Silvio gravely uttered those words and considering the conversation finished hung up. Angrily, he placed the phone on his desk and let his head rest tiredly into his hands. Sometimes in his business things went unexpectedly, and sometimes that was even expected, but even though he had always prided himself in being able to overcome hardship, this time it was going to require all his wit to keep from angering the wrong people.

He closed his eyes trying to make heads or tails of his current situation. It was one of those days in which an unexpected call had brought him to his "Office" during that time of the day which could be considered too early and too late at the same time. He had already had a cup of coffee and three more were placed at the opposite side of his desk, even though only Frank would need one, his other two employees already used to odd working hours.

Silvio straightened himself when he heard footsteps approaching, he gave his suit and his office one last glance to make sure nothing was out of place . Even though he liked to call it that, the office was a windowless room in the back of a gentleman's club he happened to own, its furniture was sparse; a desk for his personal use, two leather couches lining the dark green walls and a standing bookcase behind him. Depending on the occasion a coffee table would be brought in or, like now, more chairs.

He heard the knock on the door and, relaxing back into the chair's back and armrests while shifting his body language to look calm and awake as if he owned the place, which he did, he beckoned them in.

"Enter."

The door opened and it was, unsurprisingly that he saw both Frank and Oliver standing behind it. Of course even if it was his men appearance were still important so he made no move towards them. It was a small psychological trick, to establish dominance, but albeit an useful one.

Oliver was dressed in his 'work clothes', Cargo pants and military jacket along with combat boots, a full face cloth mask not unlike those used by wrestlers hanging from his belt, unnecesary among present company. Although he wished that Oliver be dressed more proper garments such as Frank or himself, Silvio understood that the situation left wasn't so accommodating and it wouldn't be the first time the broad shouldered black man was seen in those clothes in his office, and he doubted it would be the last.

Frank was a contrast to Oliver in many regards, for one the man was dressed in a much finer suit, although he had foregone the tie, and stood almost a foot smaller that the hulk of a man next to him. His pale skin and calm demeanor also contrasted with Oliver's and although and unlikely pair the both of them made a good team if left to their devices. Which wasn't to say the liked each other, but they knew how to work together.

Both of them entered and sat upon their respective chairs facing me, Frank at the left and Oliver in the center laving the rightmost chair empty for Meredith, who wouldn't be here for some time yet. He let them both get comfortable and take a sip of their coffees before starting the conversation.

"Okay Oliver, can you explain to us what exactly happened that needed to be attended so urgently?" He asked calmly. He knew mostly what happened, but a face to face recollection of the events was better to get everyone on the same page than a phone call or message in Frank's case.

"Of course boss." Oliver took one more sip of his drink and then proceeded to explain how the raid on Brick's warehouse initially went as well as expected, before an unexpected third party came into the picture and started disarming everyone indiscriminately. By shooting their guns out of their hands of all things, and how once this person ran out of bullets he engaged Brick's lieutenant in hand to hand combat before Oliver himself joined the fight. Which ended when both Mask and this unknown person jumped out of the window.

"And then what?" Asked Frank.

"Well, I got back down to the first floor and ran outside to follow. When I got there Mask had shape-shifted again and this guy was lying pretty much out of it in a puddle of blood, which by the way, I think was Mask's. I scared him off and took the unconscious guy back here for Mer to question."

Having heard most of the tale in silence Silvio only had two questions.

"Oliver?"

"Yes, boss?"

"What part in all of this made you think that the boy even had powers? Or that he worked for the Russians in the first place?"

"Well," He began by leaning back in his chair. "You could tell that he was with them, why else would he be there?"

"Ok, but what made you think he had any powers? He could simply be very well trained." Silvio asked starting to suspect that while this boy had been a remarkable combatant he was nowhere as close as to how Oliver described him.

"Look boss. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the case but I know when something doesn't fit. This guy had perfect aim, and I don't mean very good I mean perfect. He could shoot the guns out of other peoples hands. Yes, his fighting style wasn't so hot but the way he moved… you don't do that shit without powers."

"What? He teleported around?" Asked Frank.

"No, he moved perfectly. I have no way to describe it, but it was unnatural. There was a … manner to his movements that made you know that it was all perfectly executed. Like seeing an Olympic champion in their element."

"You just said his fighting style was bad." Silvio reminded him.

"It was! I mean that his movements were all perfect, but they weren't the best movements."

His answered was followed by a silence. Both Frank and Silvio knew Oliver to be impulsive and maybe not so smart, but never to the point of not making sense.

"Very well then. It seems that we have no other option than to wait for Meredith. Do keep in mind Oliver that you are expected to clean up after your messes if this happens to be one, and I expect you to at least apologize to Meredith for the inconveniences."

"Okay."Began Frank getting up from his chair. "Since Meredith just started four hours ago I reckon we still have another three or four left before she gets back to us. I'll be heading out, gentlemen. Gonna catch some sleep."

"You will have to catch it later, I have some news yet." Said a curt, voice at the door.

Meredith stood there as prim and proper as always. Dressed in her own business skirt and black top reaching to her knees showing off the toned and tanned legs. Her face was as stern as always, a black mane of hair neatly rolled into a bun, how she managed to tame it when so much of her job required her to be asleep was anyone's guess. She approached the desk and sat in her place ignoring Franks mumbled curses as she calmly drank her tea.

"Hello Meredith, not that I'm not glad to see you, but the fact that you are so early surely means you have nothing." Silvio said, welcoming her. Out of his three 'lieutenants' so to speak she was the one he trusted the less. The fact that she had taken half as much time as always spelled failure and tonight that would mean too many coincidences for him not to take it as enemy action.

"On the contrary, he was completely undefended. I managed to finish this fast thanks to another factor. Do you you want me to begin with the vent or the personal information?"

"Information first." The boy's personal information was more pressing in his mind, who he was worried him more than waht had actually went down.

"His name is James Morrison. He is sixteen years old and lives in a penthouse at Connovan 583 with his father, Daniel Morrison a divorce lawyer, his step-mother, Nicole Lavoisse a chef, and his step-sister, Marie Lavoisse senior year student at Star City High. James is also a sophomore there."

"What?" Was Frank's response which summed up both Silvio's and Oliver's thoughts as well. By the description provided he had thought this was a junior Bratva Assassin or something of the like. Not a simple sophomore. "And the Russians?"

"No relation. He was bluffing and Vest fell for it." Silvio was tempted to reprimand her on using Oliver's moniker, but with Frank smiling smugly at the man he supposed that at least he had to act serious as the boss.

"However he does have powers." Was Meredith's next helpful piece of information.

"Aha!" Shouted Oliver standing up from his seat.

"Oliver." Was all that Silvio said, but it was enough to get the man to sit again. "Meredith what were his powers and how did he end up involved in this. In that order."

"His powers..." For the first time in the conversation her face showed some emotion past the facade of professionalism. A mix of awe and confusion. "For a lack of a better term his power is math."

"Yes, that explains so much." Was Frank's answer. The lack of sleep didn't help the man's sarcasm.

Meredith shot him a look and continued. "As far as I can tell his power has two parts, the first is that he is a master at mathematics or any other subject based upon it, and it's all innate. The second is the fact that his brain is essentially a supercomputer when it comes to processing power. Meaning that the kid can process information at a rate that I can't even begin to explain, which is why I was done so fast with him, his mind working much faster than that of a normal person. When you mix those two parts you get something akin to a mathematical synesthesia."

"Ok, back up a little you lost me." Said Oliver.

"Synesthesia is a condition in which people mix up two senses, they can hear colors, smell sounds that sort of thing. I compare this power to it because it's the closest comparison I can make. He literally sees the underlining mathematical equations of the world. Where we would see a coin flipping he can perceive it's acceleration, tangential speed, air resistance, weight and who knows what more and is capable of processing all this information fast enough to call the flip correctly. You saw something similar when he was shooting the guns out of people's hands. He also applied it to his fighting, every movement being as efficient as possible. Getting the best results while wasting as little energy as possible." Meredith's analysis was not only due to the fact that she had gathered the information, but also her background made her their resident expert in powers.

"What do you mean when you say that it's all innate?" Was Silvio next question.

"What I said. All he knows? He figured out himself. Just as an example he has almost no knowledge of mathematical algorithms and the basic of statistics, but he has Geometry and functions up to the seventh pair of Axis. Coincidentally that's his moniker."

"Ok. Now the actual question, What happened last night?" Or earlier this night depending on your point of view.

"The short answer? Bad luck. The long one? James was doing a bit of vigilantism with another friend of his and decided to attack the same place as us on the same day. When he heard the gunshots he went running worried for her friend and the rest is as Oliver told us."

"Okay, this sounds all logical and plausible. Except for the fact that we don't know what the hell happened to the friend."

"Actually..." Began Oliver, drawing everyone's attention. "The kid's phone had been swarming with a lot of calls from a Cass girl. I didn't notice right away, but when I saw I took the call and gave her the 'stay put if you want to see him again' speech. I thought you would decide what happened to him."

"When were you planing to tell me this?" Asked Silvio angrily. He couldn't believe Oliver's lack of foresight. "What if it had been the Russians?"

"It was a teenager! I didn't think much of it."

"For the record the girl is Casey Williams. Classmate and childhood friend of James. Lives with her mother Evelyn Williams. Dead Father. Has powers too: perfect memory, lack of need for sleep and increased learning rate." Clarified Meredith.

"Ok. Is there anything else important that we may have missed?" Was Silvio's next question.

"Not really, no."

"Perfect. It's not the Russians so Oliver can go and get rid of the kid, so we can all get back to sleep." Declared Frank.

However Silvio didn't agree with him, he couldn't simply off this kid, and telling his associates why was out of the question. Which didn't leave him with too many options.

"No, I have a better idea yet. Let's hire him." His proposal was met with skeptical stares from the other three.

Oliver, true to his nature, was the first to question him. "Emm, Boss, you do know the kid is a vigilante, right? I don't think he will actually accept."

Silvio smiled, not a warm smile, but a cold, smug one. "I believe we can be very convincing. We know where his family is, don't we? Maybe we should send some of our men to check on them. See if they're alright."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute! Are you serious?" Frank questioned.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Silvio answered sincerely. "We do need the added rep another meta would give us, and it could be used as leverage in our deal with Livewire's ragtag bunch."

"Okay, suppose for a minute that we actually manage to convince the kid, we tail the family and hold them hostages. There's still the fact of what job do we give him and what the hell do we do with his friend."

"He's supposed to be good with numbers. Can't we stick him as our accountant?" Was Oliver's suggestion.

"No." Silvio answered and calmly proceeded to explain. "The problem with this kind of… let's call it recruitment, is that if we give the kid any kind of leverage on us then we lose leverage on him. So we can't make him our accountant because handing him all the financial information on our operations would be detrimental so to speak. Also our current accountant likes his job very much so and I don't think he will accept being fired."

"The problem then is what do we make the kid do." Pointed out Meredith and at Frank's glare added. "If we don't kill him."

"Yes." quipped Frank, to emphasize his point.

"It would be hard, we would need to strike a balance between not pushing him too much, lest the leash snap, and pushing him enough so as to not give him too much elbow room." Explained Meredith.

"Exactly. Even if we hold his family against him, twenty-four seven tailing, kidnapping them or anything else, if we give the boy a gun and he decides to shoot us then the hostages will be little consolation to whoever ends up dead." Frank argued.

"Except for one fact: he doesn't have it in him to kill us." The smile in Meredith's voice was as evident as it was terrifying. "I believe that if we play our cards right, we will be able to strike a balance. A psychological push and pull with the boy slowly, turning him to our side while keeping his desire to have his family alive bigger than his desire to kill us. From what I know it's doable."

"You are the expert here, if you think you can make it happen then I will leave the boy to you." Concedes Silvio, reluctant as he was to entrust this task to Meredith.

"Hell no!" Oliver's sudden negation surprised everyone.

Frank turned to him surprised. "Not that I don't agree with you. But what do you exactly have against this? You seemed okay with it a few moments ago"

"Are you all for real? Look, I can understand killing a guy for not minding his own business and I will look into his eyes as I kill him or forcing him to be some paper pusher. But toying with him like this? This is practically slavery. That's needlessly cruel."

Silvio had always known that Oliver was a good man with a hard life. However, now wasn't the time to get all moralistic.

"Listen Oliver, we four all know that life isn't fair here in Star City. You turn the wrong corner? Talk back to the wrong people? Born to the wrong parents? That's it, you are dead. This kid went and got himself into this all on his own with his friend, because as Meredith explained he wasn't forced to do anything. So now if shit happens he has no one but himself to blame for it understand?"

The glare Oliver gave him told him that he did understand, he just didn't like it. Even so, he backed down.

"Good. Then Meredith call the doc to get a look at James, we need to fix him up is he is going to be working for us. Oliver get three of our watchers in the docks and their rotations out of there and watching the family, one for each member. I want to know everything they do twenty-four seven. That's all for now."

Frank however still had some doubts on him. "Wait a sec what about the girl friend? Or the boy's biological mother?"

Silvio sighed, he couldn't believe he had overlooked something so simple. "Right. Meredith can we..."

"No, the girl is probably more attached to James himself than to her own mother, at least judging by his memories, and isn't half as tame as the boy himself. She would mean trouble. Also the mother is dead."

"Bug the boy's phone then. I want to know all that he does with it, and who he talks to. Now, am I forgetting anything else?" After a moment of silence he added. "You can go."

Both Oliver and Meredith went onto their respective tasks while Silvio's right hand man stayed behind with Silvio himself, wanting to speak to him. He waited until both of them were out of earshot.

"I don't like this Silvio."

Silvio himself just sighed, he had expected as much from his friend. "I know you don't, but we can't simply throw away such an opportunity."

"Damn it Silvio! I can accept Oliver, the man is loyal if idiotic. I begrudgingly accepted Meredith because she was useful if untrustworthy. But this kid has every reason to slit your neck and you actually plan on giving him the tools to do it! Fuck this powered people shit. We can do without them."

"Except we can't." Explained Silvio. "We only have two powered people to the other four mob's three to six, and on record Meredith has no powers so we only seem to have one. Not only are we the weakest, but we look like the weakest too. Our only saving grace is the fact that we hold no territory that they can attack attack, and even then Brick's already proving that he can hit our organization directly. All of which you know already, so why are we arguing this."

"Because out of the three freaks we will end up having two might just do you in! I understand that we need to grease the deal with Livewire as soon as possible, but we are taking too many risks."

Despite how much Silvio valued the man, Frank's only defect seemed to be his attachment to the old days.

"Times are changing, Frank, and powers are part of the change. The Bricks of the world are going to start being more the rule than the exception, so we need to even the playing field."

Frank sighed, thinking as hard as he could for an argument to rebuke his boss, but none were forthcoming. "Ok, I will play along with this. Smile and give the okay, but promise that once the kid is ours, Meredith goes. Otherwise the kid goes once Livewire is in."

Silvio thought about the proposal for a moment, and realized that he was right. Once he had both the kid and Livewire loyal and working for him he would be able to dispense with Meredith's services. It might even prove advantageous to do so.

"Alright, we will do it your way."


	13. Chapter 13

Bust 2.1

"James, wake up."

My first though upon waking up was that most of me hurt. I was laying on my back in my bed and I could feel the pain from all the points in which my weight rested on the bed. I shifted a little in my half-waking haze and tried to go back to sleep, Cass would probably wake me before I had to go home.

Then I remembered that I had lost consciousness in the middle of a fight.

The moment that though was processed by my brain I jumped out of the bed as I opened my eyes and regretted it not a moment later, my whole body recoiling in pain from the various injuries it had amassed in the course of that fight. I couldn't manage staying upright and instead had to lean on the bed for support.

The room I found myself in was some kind of expanded supply closet, metal shelves littered with boxes were placed all over it, much like a maze as far as I could tell. I wasn't able to determine its dimensions due to the shelves blocking my view. There was a clear spot in the room where the bed I had been sleeping in was placed along with two others.

I was dimly aware of all this in some back corner of my mind as I stared intently at the woman pointing a gun at me. The woman stood at 1.70343456 meters, with an added 3.98485 centimeters of height given by her black hair bun. She had pale skin and a slim complexion, almost like a dancer's, her face was set in a neutrally inquisitive expression and her business outfit conferred her a professional air.

All of which for some reason I couldn't help but notice, despite the fact that it didn't matter one bit, because she was pointing a gun at me.

The woman was pointing the gun in such a way and at a close enough distance that even if I tried to move out of the way before she pulled the trigger all she would need was to react in less than 0.4596867 seconds and I would end up with a hole in myself. I knew that the average human reaction time was less than that.

I realized then, I was very much panicking. With that realization came a complete paralysis, both mental and physical. I became unable to move, not unlike a deer frozen in front of a pair of headlights. Worse was my inability to think, I couldn't form one thought before it was replaced with the start of another and so on, all of them trying to figure out a way out of this situation.

I instinctively knew that I didn't have much time and so I couldn't give myself time to think. It was much like being so hurried that I tripped over my own mental feet in an attempt to mentally run as fast as possible.

"Please take a seat." She said calmly in a voice that sounded too bitterly sweet to my ears, as if this were a simple business meeting and my life wasn't being threatened.

Nevertheless I sat on the bed.

"How are you feeling? Is the pain bothering you too much? Do you need some painkillers?" She asked me, every word of small talk only made my anxiety grow.

Yet I didn't want to risk angering her.

"No, I'm fine."

"I see." She said, letting a moment of silence hang between us. "I'm sorry about the gun, but you would be trying to fight me otherwise and would most likely win. Don't worry though, I'm not planning on firing it." Her face showed me a smile, it's so obviously forced that it makes me more nervous.

"What's going on?" I asked her after gathering enough courage, it was a small calculated risk. I didn't think she would shoot me for asking.

"Oh, yes. I suppose this is confusing for you, you got into a fight, passed out and now you wake up in an unknown room with a woman aiming a gun at you." She says. "I won't dwell too much in the details, but the short of it is that Vest, that's the big black guy, the shape shifter was Mask, won your little scuffle and brought you here."

"Why?" I asked in confusion. I didn't want to look at a gift horse in the mouth, but I expected to be dead by now.

"Because," She said. "He thought that we may be able to get something out of the Bratva's new enforcer."

I felt my heart skip a beat. It made sense now, why I was still alive. After all, they thought that I had some important info on their enemies. I couldn't even lie my way out of this because they would kill me after I told them everything. I didn't even have time to answer before she was talking again.

"But apparently, he only brought back a certain James Morrison. A newbie vigilante at best, not even close to the supposed Russian enforcer."

"H-.." I stuttered, my fear not even letting me utter one word. "How?"

"How do I know?" She replied. Her expression still too neutral, her voice too sweet. Like a teacher talking to a student with difficulties. "I know everything about you James: I know where you live, I know that you live with your father, your step-mother and step-sister. I know that Cass is your best friend in the world and that you would do almost anything to keep her safe, including playing the vigilante and even rushing into an ongoing shootout to rescue her. I know that you posses an almost synesthetic ability to see the world around you expressed as equations and that your mathematical prowess would probably beat the best mathematicians in the world if you cared to apply it. I know that Casey's own mental abilities do not [missing word] too much behind. I know you better than you know yourself."

I was mute, maybe by awe or maybe by fear. I didn't know where she had gotten ahold of all that information in such a short time. I was careful not to take anything that may make me recognizable with me when I went out and no one knew about my powers, just me and Cass.

It was that fact more than anything that made me believe her, because even if she had access to every last bit of info on me, that one tidbit was something that she couldn't have possibly known.

It was over for me.

The goddamn Mafia knew everything about me, even if by some miracle of god Superman himself crashed out of the ceiling and rescued me I would have no life to go back to.

If before I was tense now it was the complete opposite, I just… slumped. There was a certain kind of despair to knowing you had no way out of a situation, that was the kind of despair I felt back then.

"So you see, James, it occurs to my boss that we now have a highly capable young man. One that might be willing to give us a hand if we ask the right." She said, every word making the feeling of despair crawl higher and higher up my chest, like a coil of wire tightening around my heart.

"What if I said no?" I tentatively asked.

"Then my coworkers may need to pay a visit to your family, whom they are already keeping an eye on, making sure that nothing happens to them. Do you understand what I mean?"

I nodded.

"Good," She said. "Then that means I won't need this anymore." She lowered the gun and placed it on one of the shelves, it didn't even cross my mind to attack her.

"Now James, I need just one favor from you before we can escort you back home. I need you to call Cass and make it very clear that you are alright and that she'd better stay calm. If I were you I would try to be as clear as possible, we do not care about what she does as long as she keeps it out of our bussiness. Otherwise it may reflect badly on you, If you catch my drift." She said, extending a hand with my phone to me. Her voice didn't have that sweet tone to it any more, now sounding more… curt.

I took it and dialed.

The first ring didn't have time to finish before Cass answered.

"James?!" Her voice came through the speaker and a wave of relief hit me, I don't know if it was because she was fine or because I needed to hear a friendly voice.

"Cass, it's me."

"James," The relief was audible in her tone, these hours must have been painfully nerve wracking to her not knowing what had been of me. "What's going on? What happened? I tried to call you, but someone else answered and told me to do nothing if I wanted to see you gain."

"Cass listen." I told her, trying to sound strict, to muster as much conviction in my voice as possible. "I'm fine. Last night I rushed into the warehouse when I heard the gunshots thinking that something had happened to you where I got into a fight and lost. The Mafia took me, but I'm fine now. Please Cass, It's a long story." It wasn't, but I didn't have enough willpower to explain to Cass how bad the situation was, at least not on phone. "But I need you to wait, okay? This time I really need you to sit still and do nothing but wait for me. Can you do this?"

"James, what do you mean? What's going on?"

"I will explain in person. Please, don't do anything rash." I hung up, not letting Cass refute me or have the last word.

"That was great." The woman said. "Don't worry James, everyone will be fine as long as you do as you are told. We are just criminals, not monsters. If it helps you can think of this as a half-time job, in fact we do not expect you to work for free; you will be paid ten thousand dollars per month in exchange for your services."

I nodded, not caring much about the money. I just wanted to be back home to pretend, for a little while at least, that nothing had happened that everything was normal.

"I see." Is all she said. "Come with then, there's a car waiting for you. I will explain how things will be handled while we walk."

She then turned around and walked out of the door, not checking if I'm even behind her. I followed, grunting from the pain all the bruising caused me.

The corridors of the building were better decorated, the walls were painted in warm shades of purplish red, I didn't know the exact color. As we walked we went past some doors but none of them were opened or had any windows.

"I will call you during the week and tell when and where we will meet. For now it will be mostly to 'train' you. While you can mostly handle yourself in a fight there are some skills and lessons you need to learn before you can be seen associated to us. Appearance is important after all. In case you need it my name is Meredith, however do not use it when we talk on the phone or in public." She told me in a no nonsense tone. "Is that clear?"

"Yes." Is all I answered.

We kept walking in silence until we exited the building through an emergency exit door. Outside waiting for us there was a car and the man from last night: Vest. This time he wasn't wearing the mask from last night, instead favoring a shirt and some jeans. Had I not known better I could have mistaken him for a a middle school teacher on his way to work.

"One last thing. Take this." Meredith said, handing me a little bottle of pills. "They are painkillers, take one every twelve hours to help with the pain from the bruising. Also, try to take it easy in regards to physical activity."

"I get it." I said taking the bottle. I wasn't planning on taking even a single one, but I didn't want to risk refusing them.

After that she went back inside leaving me alone with Vest, who stepped forward and offered me a handshake. I took it.

"It's good to meet you. I'm Oliver" He said.

"We met before..." I said. " Last night?"

He blinked at me, bewildered. "How did you recognize me? I took off my mask and I even put on the almost nice work clothes."

"Your biometrics." I explained.

"My what now?"

"Your measurements, your body's dimensions are the same as yesterday." I told him.

"Huh, Mer was right, you are quite good with numbers." He reflected out loud. "Well, get in the car. We have to take you home so I'll be dropping you off a few blocks away in case your folks are nearby."

We got into the car, it was a nice Mercedes Benz, although I couldn't for the life of me name the model. All I could tell about it was that it was better than my Dad's car, mechanically speaking.

I had expected the ride to be filled by an awkward silence in which I could try and not think too much about my current situation. Oliver proved that that wouldn't be the case almost two minutes into the ride.

"Where did you learn to fight? I saw that you had some good moves against Mask, but you looked like a pro trying to imitate an amateur."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, before I realized what I was doing.

"Your technique was perfect, but your fighting style was almost street brawling."

"I see." I knew what he was talking about, Cass would sometimes remark the same things, but I always thought I would get better with experience.

The car remains silent once more. We stop at a red light.

"You could try a little more, you know? Not everything is as bad as it seems." Oliver said out of the sudden.

"Huh?"

"I mean that I get it. Your situation is shitty, but that's not gonna change. The least you could do is try to make the most out of it." He told me.

"Yes, let's find the positive side to being conscripted into a gang." I remark sarcastically.

"It could be worse. You could have been dead, had Mask won our fight you'd certainly be." His sight didn't leave the road, but he seemed more focused in our conversation anyway. "It's not as bad as it seems though. The boss is quite generous if you do your job right and out of all criminal organizations in town ours is the last violent. Really, what you saw last night is more the exception than the rule, I usually just stand around as bodyguard and enforcer, and since you have powers too the same will likely happen to you. In fact you won't probably see another gun for a good while after yesterday."

"Were you told to give me the sales pitch?" I asked him.

He stops the car and looks at me directly. "No, in fact I was told to act silent and mean, but I don't think it's right to hold a guy's family hostage just to get him to do what you want. Because unlike the others I get what's like to have powers in this town, and I wasn't too far from being in a situation like yours once. So this is deal James, I won't go against the boss , I owe him too much for that, but that doesn't mean I gotta go against you. I will teach you the ropes, how to act and what to do, I will teach you what limits to cross and where to toe the line. I can mentor you and you can trust not to call the guns on your family. I return I need to be able to trust you."

"Why?"

"Because like I told you I have been in a similar place, an I can sympathize with that." He told me. "Now go, this is your stop."

I didn't answer him, just got out the car and started walking towards home.

Oliver had dropped me off just three block from my house, as I crossed the second a person slams into me, hugging me.

"James!" Said Cass as she hugged me with all her strength, causing me a great degree of pain from the bruises.

"Ahhhh! Cass! Cass! I'm hurt please!" I moaned.

Cass releases me and I get to look over her. Physically speaking she was fine, no injuries from last night, yet she looked tired. For the girl who didn't sleep she looked a lot more exhausted than she had any right to, emotionally and mentally.

"What happened? You look terrible."

I explained everything to her. Detail by detail trying not to omit anything. I related her how my night ended, how I woke up and all that happened afterwards. About Meredith, about Oliver and about my new so called job.

By the end of it she just said. "Fuck." Summarizing most of the night in a single eloquent word.

"Fuck indeed." I echoed back at her.

"So," She said. "What's the plan now? How are we taking them down?" She asked me.

I couldn't believe her, after all that happened and she still wanted to play the hero?

"You must be joking."

"What? Of course not. We can beat them."

"No, Cass. We can't." I told her. "The plan? The plan is that now I'm gonna do what they fucking tell me and hope and pray that it isn't too horrible. Meanwhile you will go to your house and pretend that nothing happened!"

"Look, I get that you are scared and-"

"Scared? No shit, Sherlock!" I interrupted her, screaming. "My whole family is being threatened if I don't do as they say, and you want me to antagonize them?! Are you really that out of your mind?"

"Dude, calm down. I know-"

"No Cass, no! I'm not going to calm down! Shit's gone to hell, my life is completely sideways and you want to repeat the same mistake that got me into this?!"

I was yelling at her, in part because I was actually angry with her because of suggesting that, but mostly because of fear. I was afraid for the lives of my family, for my life and for what the Mafia would make me do, and instead of fixing it I was lashing out at Cass.

I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

"Look." I said, now in a normal volume. "I'm not going to gamble my family's lives in whatever plan you and I may cook up, so go home and promise me that this is going to be the end of your heroing, or else I will have to physically beat some sense into your head. Yes?"

Cass stepped forward and hugged me again, this time more softly. "I'm sorry." She said.

"I know, just go. I want to be alone for a while."

I just stepped away from her and went my way, I didn't even bother to look at what she would do.

I walked straight back home looking warily at any strangers to cross my path, not knowing if they were there to watch over my family, and opened the door. Mom was baking some cookies in the oven, Dad was watching the news, something about a new cat burglar, and Marie was texting a friend in the couch. I tried to pretend that everything was normal and excused myself to go to my room with the excuse of being tired.

There, I simply got into bed and covered myself, trying to go to sleep. Just to ignore the giant mess that my life currently was.


	14. Chapter 14

Bust 2.2

I couldn't sleep that night. I didn't know if it was the fact that I had slept through most of the day earlier or just the anxiety making me want to puke my stomach out, but sleep wasn't very forthcoming and what little I did get wasn't restful.

Come morning I simply went through the motions: turn off my alarm, get dressed, brush my teeth and sit at the table for family breakfast. I didn't feel like going to school that day but I couldn't just tell that to my family and expect them to comply, so I kept silent.

My parents weren't fools though, and they did comment on the fact that I hadn't touched my toast. I managed to fend off some of their questions and they probably thought that I'd caught something, but I couldn't force myself to eat right now. Nor did I want to, my appetite was all but gone.

I scampered off before they could continue their questioning, not even waiting for Marie. Although we went to the same school we had a kind of implicit arrangement to avoid walking together, so I usually left earlier while she used that little extra time to take a shower.

I think I would've liked having her chatter around to fill the OR silence.

School wasn't much better; the lack of anything even remotely mentally engaging left me with a lot of time to think and every line of thought led me back to my current predicament. It was unbearable being able to feel the anxiety and hopelessness of my situation but not being able to do anything about it.

It went on like that until Tuesday afternoon. I went kept going through the motions, I answered if someone spoke to me and engaged in whatever activity I was supposed to be doing, but my mind was OR elsewhere. I didn't see Cass or my basketball friends during those days, or if I did I don't remember it. I was slowly going stir crazy, waiting for the other shoe to drop; it felt like a free fall, not knowing when I would hit the ground.

"...James!"

"Hmm… What?" I said, my thoughts elsewhere.

"Are you even paying attention to me?"

I was talking to Lisa as I walked home. I couldn't remember exactly why she was walking with me, but it may had been something about no one being able to pick her up and needing to take a bus?

"Sorry, I was distracted." I tried to force a somewhat sheepish grin.

"What an airhead," she sighs, "I was telling you about the new burglar I saw in the news the other day. Dad seemed pretty worried about it, him working in a bank and all, but anyways would you like to come to my house on Saturday?" She asked, suddenly changing the topic.

"Wait, what? Why?" I answered, before realizing my mistake, "I mean! Yes! But you know.. why so sudden?"

She chuckled at me. "My parents are having a barbecue for their wedding anniversary and they're going to invite a lot of people from their work and their friends, and they're let my brother and me invite one friend each. I though that you would be the most fun choice."

"Only one?"

"Yeaaaah, there was kind of a big incident a few months back: I can't invite any of my other friends home right now, or at least not with a straight face." She explained.

"Ok, count me in then."

"Great! Call you later with the deets? Yes! Bye!" She said very quickly before crossing the street and going the other way. I think I should ask Marie about this, just to be safe.

It couldn't be that bad co-

I felt a vibration in my pocket.

It was my phone.

I stood almost entirely paralyzed for a few moments, before sense came back to me and I answered.

"..." I couldn't force myself to say anything.

"Hello James. How are you feeling? Healing up fine?" It was the woman, Meredith, false concern in her tone. I had almost wished to hear Oliver, the lesser of the two evils, but I didn't seem to get what I wished for lately.

"...Yes."

"That's good," She said, "We are meeting, you and me, today. Go back home and leave your school bag, you won't need anything from it, tell your parents that you are going to a friend's house and get back to the street, a car will be waiting for you. Don't be late." She hung up.

I ran the rest of the way back home.

Mom was the only one home and she was watching a cooking show on the couch, so she didn't pay me much attention as I left my stuff in my bedroom and went back out. I told her I was going to a friend's house and she didn't question it.

When I got back down a black car was parked right in front of the door, the window rolled down and allowing me to see Oliver waving at me from the driver's seat. I opened the door and got inside next to him.

"So how have you been these last two days?" He asked to try and break the ice.

"Horrible." I answered, looking out of the window.

" Hmm, yeah I suppose."

"Do you know what will happen today?" I asked him. I was still nervous around him, but I couldn't keep acting scared; I didn't think I would last long if I did. Or maybe I was just getting used to the gut wrenching anxiety.

"Not much, a little physical training I think, see how you are in a fight, maybe tell you about the other gangs and so. Meredith likes to multi-task so who knows?" He told me nonchalantly. "There won't be many of these things though, as far as she tells me it will probably be this one for training, then it will be up to you to go to the gym. Afterwards it will be two more for coaching and teaching you how to drive."

"How to drive?" I asked him. It didn't occur to me that that might be an important skill.

"Yes, of course. You wouldn't think an enforcer will always get his own driver did you?" He answered in a chuckle.

"No, I suppose not." I said, it wasn't that bad, I had been wanting to learn how to drive anyway.

"Good," His tone got a little more serious and less upbeat. "We are about to arrive. There's two masks in the glove compartment. One's for you and hand me the other one."

I opened the compartment as instructed, inside there was a gun I was very careful not to touch and two masks. The masks were featureless plastic ones, with cloth straps and buckles at their sides to securely tie them to our heads.

I put one on and, as we slow to a stop, handed Oliver the other. As he put on his mask I noticed that we stopped in front of an old gym. The building was run-down, unpainted bricks littering the front of it and above the double glass door there was a metal cut out depicting a strong man lifting an excessive amount of weights. The paint was washed out but the sign still read 'Atlas GYM'.

We got out of the car and stepped inside. The interior of the building wasn't amazing; a boxing ring stood in the middle of the room with several old machines and training implements littered around it far away enough from each other as to prevent accidents. Other than that I noticed that the gym was very spacious with a high ceiling and catwalks making a sort of gallery, or at least it would have been spacious if it weren't for the fact that there were 151 other people crowding it.

"Follow me and look confident." The man whispered in my ear as he walked past me.

Maneuvering through the crowd, Oliver led me to a wooden door with a small glass window that had the word 'Management' written upon it in the back of the gym. He opened the door and I followed him in.

Inside the little office there were three people. One was a small old man with graying hair and a bit of a hunch sitting behind a desk, and another was a voluptuous blond in a revealing dress next to him, but I all but disregarded them as my eyes focused on the third one.

Meredith was standing in front of the desk, still wearing business clothes and her hair in a bun. A small grin formed on her face as she saw us, and I hated it. Actually I hated her, I belatedly realized. I hadn't hated anyone before in my life, but just the sight of her filled me with a feeling of futility and anger that I couldn't put into words. I didn't know if it was the feeling of Oliver standing behind me, the lack of a gun in her hands or the last two days without good sleep, but the fear and nervousness were just a little ball in the pit of my stomach now.

Then the old man spoke. "He doesn't look like much."

"I assure you Lucio, we wouldn't have brought him here if we didn't have faith in his abilities." Meredith reassured him, "He is our new co-worker after all." She said it while smiling at me, to anyone else it might have looking like a friendly smile. It seemed mocking to me.

"Hey there Oliver," The woman greeted him, "What do you think about him? The crowd today is quite energetic after all."

"Don't worry about him, I have seen him fight before and he is a machine." Oliver's answer gave me a little more perspective into what was going on, and I hoped I was wrong because my bruises hadn't finished healing yet.

"Go and prepare the crowd Lucio, we will give him a pep talk in the meanwhile." Meredith told the old man.

"He better last at least five matches Meredith." Were Lucio's parting words as he and the blond woman exited the office.

There was a silence between the three of us afterwards. Meredith was the one to break it. "You are probably wondering what's going to happen, right James?"

I nodded.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet, good old Lucio works with us: he lends us his gym a few times a month to use for pit fighting and gambling. Tonight we called him to let him know there would be a special event and to prepare the gym just for you," She said, slowly walking closer to me. "The rules today are very different to the usual: first we are organizing this a little bit earlier than usual; second to make up for that weapons will be allowed, no guns of course; and third because whoever defeats the champion will take six grand back home. The champion being you." She was now right in front of me.

"I'm not dressed for fighting," I said. I was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt, something that wouldn't give me much mobility. There was also the fact that my bruises hadn't healed yet, but she wouldn't care about that.

"I don't care," She told me, echoing my thoughts. "Your objective isn't to beat every fighter there. What I expect you to do is to make it so that no one else wants to risk getting into that ring with you. I want you to appear so strong that none of them will even think that they have a shot at defeating you. So stand straight, look confident and act dangerous. Those people out here? They're sharks. They will smell your fear if you show even th slightest hint of it."

"And I'm supposed to scare them," I said, the fear was back now. Intellectually I knew it was irrational, I could probably beat any of those men in a one on one fight any day of the week. But could I do it 10 times in a row? 20? 50?

"Yes," She said. "But don't worry. I'm not about to send you naked to the wolves, they all have weapons after all so it's only fair that you get one too. Here," She handed me a pocket knife, blade folded in. The blade was 10.23445 centimeters long and 2.544546 centimeters wide at the base. "If I were you I would stab everyone that comes up until they get too scared, but I know you don't have what it takes. Still, here's for hoping."

She looked towards Oliver. "I'm going outside to see how bets are coming. Wait 'till they say his name." Then she left, leaving me alone with the man.

I looked the blade in my hand and then at Oliver. "Any tips?"

He just shrugged. "It's not as bad as she makes it sound, I've seen you fight and I've seen these guys fight. You got this."

"How many people will I fight?"

He shrugged again. "Dunno, we mostly let fights run until it's too late or people begin to leave. But we are starting kind of early today so you should probably scare them into not fighting."

"How?" I ask desperately. "I'm sixteen years old and I have only fought seriously three times in my entire life. Behind that door there are people with probably a hundred times more experience than me." I was starting to pace around from nervousness.

Oliver grabbed me by the shoulders and used his weight to keep me in place. "Calm down. That doesn't matter, okay? None of them know that. I used to fight in places like this before and all you need to know is that your opponent can't read your mind. They only know that you, the supposed champion, are standing between them and the prize. They won't see a nervous sixteen year old unless you show them that. They-"

The rumbling of cheers and applause coming from the gym interrupted him.

"Shit, no more time we have to go out. Act confident." He said, exiting through the door.

I supposed that was my cue so I followed him.

It was like the whole gym had changed while I was inside the office; stage lights I hadn't seen before in the ceiling now illuminated the whole gymnasium, which was now even more packed with people if than before, and a quick head count now netting me about 200 people in the gym and even more entering it.

The people cheering and shouting parted ways before Oliver, opening a small path to the ring. I immediately remember what Oliver just told me and fix my posture, straightening my back and lifting my chin high to simulate confidence.

I needed to think and I had too little time. I was nervous, scared and a lot less confident than I appeared. I could practically see my thoughts begin to circle each other, so I took a moment and stopped thinking. I needed to solve this problem, like anything else in life it was just a problem. Life was just math, just logic, so this could be approached like a logic problem.  
I silenced the voice in my head that told me that my desperation was making me delirious.

4 meters to the ring.

Asses the problem.  
I didn't think that Meredith had called me here just to watch me beat people in a fight or to make people beat me. She was supposed to train me, I think, so what had she told me to do?  
Scare everyone into not fighting me. Take everything else out and that was her main message.

3 meters to the ring.

What tools can I use to solve the problem?  
I needed anything and everything that might help me look scary. The knife was a good option but not one that I wanted to use. I needed them to perceive me as someone they couldn't beat, showing the knife and not using it might give me some credibility in that area, make them think that I didn't believe that they would be good enough to warrant it's use. Not much sprung to my mind, a memory of Cass telling me something about how my moves were strange when I fought. Economics of movement she had called it, would these people register that even subconsciously?

2 meters.

I needed not only to play to my strengths, but to showcase them. The longer each match lasted the more credibility I would lose and the more time I would spend fighting. None of these people would hesitate to fight against someone like them, someone who felt pain and struggled to win just as much as they did. I needed to show that I was different, I needed to show them I was _better_.

1 meter.

They were loud, unrefined brutes. I needed to be the opposite. Silent, graceful, efficient. I had to use my mind to its fullest, control every movement and perform it to its fullest efficiency. I didn't need to be a martial arts master or be invincible, I only had to look the part.

I reached the ring and, using one of the posts as handhold, I jumped into it. In the ring the blonde woman was speaking, introducing the fighters and explaining the rules. On the opposite corner there was a broad shouldered tall man, 196.67228 cm, he was shirtless showing off his huge muscles. His arm alone was 3.67 times as thick as mine.

I was already calculating every point and angle where I could hit his head to generate enough rotational energy to knock him out in one hit. I had to do it fast, that was the primary factor to establish my strength. I gauged that thirty seconds would be the longest I could take without losing cred for the win, although this was a completely baseless assumption.

The woman finished speaking and retreated outside the ring. Meanwhile the man advanced slowly towards me, a tire iron in hand, now.

"I expected a big man to be my opponent not some little kid. Why don't you go home to mommy and let me have the prize." He said taunting me.

I didn't dignify him with a verbal response, instead I took out the pocket knife and unfolded it.

"What are you going to do with that toothpick kid?"

I threw it up a short distance to spin it and change my grip to the blade, before throwing it over my shoulder and impaling it into the post behind me without turning around. If he was smart he would appreciate the backhand throw, if he was smarter he would appreciate the fact that pocket knives are completely unbalanced and if I was lucky he would understand that I didn't need it to beat him.

He just snarled and swung the tire iron at me, closing the distance. I was prepared for it, my muscles springing into action, I moved forward and out of the range of his swing before it's even close to me. He seemed to notice this, but his swing was already carrying too much momentum for him to stop.

I took advantage of it, planting my foot on the ground and pivoting, transferring all my forward inertia to my other foot in a spinning kick to the back of my opponent's head. My heel collided in a tangential angle and the man stumbled towards the ground, not yet knocked out.

He tried to recover and turn around, but I was already there waiting for him and finished him off with a straight uppercut before his guard was even up. He fell unconscious to the ground and didn't get up.

"The win goes to the champion!" Shouted the blond woman, who I realize was acting as announcer and referee. "Who will be the next challenger?"

I looked though the crowd, some of them were showing signs of apprehension, but most still seemed eager to fight me. I had beaten the first with only two hits and only now realized my mistake: I had to do the same with every following fighter or else they would think I was getting tired.

I held a hand out stopping the announcer, another idea formed in my mind. She looked at me and I just showed her two fingers, not trusting my voice to hold up. Also silent guys were supposed to be scary right?

"Two challengers at the same time?"

I nodded.

"Well there you have it people, our champion thinks himself too good a fighter to be bested by even two of you! Who will want to step up and prove him wrong?!"

"What about the money? I'm not splitting it with some other idiot if we win!" Someone in the crowd shouted. A chorus of agreements follows.

The announcer looked at me again, not knowing what to do about that and probably thinking that I had any idea.

I again nodded. I had to win anyways so there was no problem in raising the stakes.

"Full reward for each one!" She tells them.

Two more contestants step up onto the ring. This they were closer to my height, being 10.34556 centimeters taller and 3.6575 centimeters shorter respectively. Tall had a chain wound up around his arm and Short had a collapsible baton.

The idea was that the more I raised the bar for myself the more amazing my wins would be. Of course if they didn't stop coming after I had beaten five people or six then I would start having real problems.

Short straight up ran at me, baton completely extended and cocked back for a full swing. I caught his swing by the foreman and with my other hand grabbing his trouser I spin and throw him over my shoulder and out of the ring.

Tall was more cautious, circling me as he spun the chain slowly lengthening with each rotation by uncoiling it from his arm. I circled him in turn, watching him spin the chain and waiting for the window of opportunity that I knew would open in a few seconds, having calculated the speed and trajectory.

It happened, just as the chain went a little too far, a little too long and collided with the ground robbing it from much of it's momentum, I sprung forward letting the slowed chain hit me in the ribs and across my back as I bit down a whimper of hurt. I grabbed the chain and moved behind him, twisting the arm that had the chain looped around it and forcing him into the ground and into a lock. I twisted a little more, before he cried surrender.

I kept the chain as he gets out of the ring and hold four fingers up.

The announcer shouted with emotion, encouraging the crowd. More of them were apprehensive now, I had defeated these two just as easily and skipped over a the three to go directly to fourth. Some seemed to think I was bluffing, as evidenced by the four that were now getting into the ring, but a lot more were intimidated by my combat prowess.

The real problem wasn't how many people got up here, but rather that at least one of them would know how to fight. I mean, I had my mathematical ability going for me, but I hadn't expected them to be so bad at fighting. Though I suppose a good fighter would be fighting in professional fights and not in some illegal ring run by the mafia.

I was divagating. Probably the adrenaline.

I didn't even care to notice the heights and weights of my opponents anymore, the effort necessary to remember them being bigger than simply calculating them again on the fly. Two of them had knives of different lengths, one had a hammer and the third had a pair of brass knuclkes. They all looked confident, smiling and grinning.

I extended my hand and gestured towards me with my palm, message very clear.

Come at me bro.

The four of them rushed at me together, not giving the advantage of taking them out one by one like Tall and Short had. Knives 1 and 2 were in the center with knuckles at the the left and and Hammer at the right.

I didn't wait for them instead rushing to the right towards Hammer. I noticed that all of them adjusted their positions as I moved, while Hammer tried to meet my charge with a swing of his eponymous weapon.

His attack fell short as I wasn't running towards him, but rather towards the ropes at the edge of the ring. I jumped out the ring at maximum speed feet first, and at the last second grabbed on to the rope and pulled myself back, spinning my body in a circular motion and planting both my feet on Hammer's face. Sending him to the ground with a broken nose, and probably a concussion.

I rolled after him, avoiding stabs from Knife 1 and Knife 2, to grab his hammer and ended up in front of Knuckles. Knuckles showed a little more fighting ability than my previous opponents and went in for a jab, he was too close so I ended up blocking with my left arm and countering with a cross-hammer to his jabbing elbow. I felt my arm straining under the hit, but I knew it would be barely enough for a fracture thanks to the angle and small length of the hit.

Knuckles, meanwhile, recoiled his arm in pain, giving me a little more distance which I used to kick him back, before turning to parry a stab from Knife 1 with a hit of my hammer to his hand, breaking a few fingers in the process and putting him out of the fight from the pain.

Knife 2 was just behind him and came at me with a downward stab in a reverse grip. I blocked it with the head of the hammer colliding vertically with his wrist and leaving him open to a forward kick in the middle of his chest. As he backed down I threw the hammer at him, just a little too fast and a little too unexpected to block, so it hit him in the face and broke his nose

I took stock of my opponents: Hammer had already gotten out the ring after I disarmed him, Knife 1 was in the ground cradling his broken fingers against his chest, Knuckle was standing against the ropes and holding his elbow and Knife 2 was just in front of me grabbing his nose.

Knife 2 and Knuckles could still fight, I had thrown away my weapon and received damage of my own, my arm wasn't broken but I probably wouldn't be able to use it for much else today, there was only so much I could do without breaking the laws of physics.

Yet, both looked at each other and shook their heads, not wanting to risk it. They both got out of the ring.

I held my hands up, showing six fingers to the crowd. I don't know if it was the fact that my opponents now sported broken bones or if it was because I had just won a four on one and seemed to want even more, but no one stepped forward.

Except for one person.

"I will fight. Alone." Said Oliver, getting into the ring.

The announcer shouted again, riling up the crowd. Oliver was probably better known here, and I was a seemingly unbeatable newbie. They wanted to see blood.

Oliver advanced towards me and I began to circle him. I knew he had powers, I just didn't know what they were. I racked my brain trying to remember even a tiny tidbit, something that would give me a clue. Nothing.

I didn't have more time to think because Oliver charged at me, opening with a roundhouse kick. The damage to my left arm prevented me from blocking, so I closed the distance out of the range of his kick and into his guard.

Oliver's defense was almost deplorable, strangely so because his kick had been almost perfect. I almost hesitated, but went with a right jab anyway.

Pain exploded across my knuckles, what should have felt soft and squishy felt as hard as hitting pure steel. But in the middle of the pain I managed to catch a glimpse of something in the kinetic equation, a single strange data point, but I knew that must have been his power.

I backed off, I needed more data to extrapolate his power, but I couldn't keep hitting him, not if I wanted to keep use of my hands. Obviously he didn't agree with this plan, but I was able to keep avoiding him, dancing and weaving between his blows as I moved across the ring.

Eventually I reached the chain. I was panting, dodging Oliver hadn't been easy. He came at me again, but now as I sidestepped his blow I hit him, whipping the chain across his back. I watched and took note of the equations that unfurled as a result. I kept working on that a few minutes, trying to avoid getting hit while getting some blows in with the chain and observing. In the end it took me twenty hits to get his power.

Somehow he reflected kinetic energy, probably why he was called Vest since he was more or less bullet proof, but it wasn't so simple. Luckily for me there was a catch and it was that his power wasn't a hundred percent efficient. How much energy it reflected increased with the amount of energy applied. The harder he was hit, the less damage he took.

That left two options, I could try to bleed him out through swallow cuts using the knife that I had left on the post. It would probably take too long and I was a lot more tired than him, trying to always keep myself ahead with my speed.

I chose option two.

Oliver came at me with a left hook, but I was prepared this time. I moved, partially taking the hit and grunting in pain as I countered by whipping the chain at his neck and initially missing, hitting at it's side instead of the front. Or at least that's how it looked as it went and coiled around Oliver's neck just as I was moving towards his back.

Oliver tried to spin, but he had put too much energy into the hook and the momentum had left him reeling for just long enough for me to grab the other end of the chain and pull tight. Oliver's power probably deflected the negligible kinetic energy that the chain going taut applied on his neck, making it bounce a little, but it couldn't the reflect the force it applied.

Once my grip was secure I stuck my back to Oliver's and pulled down hard. Every muscle I had struggling to lift the heavier and taller Man. Oliver tried to resist but as it was he had no leverage to move, his whole weight was being supported by his back and his feet didn't touch the ground.

He struggled, desperate to breathe and break free. He squirmed and hit me in my sides, but I held firm, my muscles straining against each other to keep him lifted above the ground and my back on the verge of breaking from being used as a fulcrum. He tried to roll onto one of my sides, but I had enough of my wits on me to prevent that. I could hear the crowd cheering for me, louder than before, and I didn't know why but a smile formed in my face.

I let go of Oliver when I see the announcer signaling me, a worried expression on her face, and the man fell to the ground crouched on his arms and legs. He moved his mask aside to take even bigger breaths.

The announcer asks again who wants to go against me.

This time the whole room is silent.

***

A while later Oliver, Meredith and I were back in the small office. Lucio and the announcer weren't here this time as they still had to oversee the rest of the fights.

"I'm not going to fight you again, you are way too brutal man." Oliver said, lying down on the desk and massaging his neck, I could see bruises beginning to form.

"Same here, you hit like a freight train." I replied, and it was true, reflecting kinetic energy basically meant that his hits were twice as strong as a normal person. I had managed to mostly avoid a direct hit, but he had clipped me a number of times resulting in various painful spots along my body, but the worst were the hits to my ribs he had given me when I was strangling him.

"You performed excellently James. The whole point of this wasn't for you to defeat everyone, but for you to appear as if you could defeat everyone." Said Meredith.

"That's why you gave me the knife."

"Yes, I expected you to stab someone or hurt them bad enough that no one else would want to try their luck. But I like your way better." She said, sitting on a chair and motioning for met to do the same. "You see James, we aren't the most powerful organization and so we need to compensate in other aspects. One of those, and one the boss puts a lot of stock into, is appearance. We don't need to be strong as long as we can make everyone else think that they can't take us. Which is more in line with what you did today."

"That was it? That was the whole reason I came here?" I asked. Pain and adrenaline making me forget about the under layer of fear for a moment.

"Not necessarily, you also got yourself a good reputation. Everyone who saw you fight today will talk about it and the news about you will spread: a silent professional fighter capable of beating the Boss' personal enforcer? It will spread like fire. So you better keep in mind that you need to keep up that appearance of silent professionalism and efficiency that you showed today."

"Good." My body hurt all over, and the moment the adrenaline wore off my bruises would make me remember them. "Can I go home?"

"Yes, just one more thing." She went behind the desk and grabbed a couple of folders from a drawer. "Take this, there is a gym regimen I will expect you to upkeep. You will also find my personal files about most of the cities gangs redacted for you to study them. Also," She took a stack of sixty bills from her pocket. "Six thousand dollars. To the winner." She smiled.

For a moment I consider refusing, it was illegal money, but I was too tired, too exhausted and in the end? I didn't care.

***

That night at home, I tossed the money into my closet along with the files. As I brushed my teeth, ready to call it a day and recover from the exhaustion I couldn't help but smile.

I had won.

The anxiety, the nerves and fear weren't there anymore. No, that was a lie, they were still there, but I thought I would be able to deal with them now. It was a small win, it almost didn't matter, but if it was stuff like this then maybe, just maybe I would be able to handle this.


	15. Chapter 15

Driving was fun, partially because of how easy it was once I'd figured out what the gear box actually did. All around I think it took me about half an hour to figure out the gear box and then the other half to demonstrate to Oliver that yes, I know how to drive now.

For a kinetic-proof guy he was far too worried about crashing. Sure, taking turns at ninety kilometres per hour wasn't exactly orthodox, but I had it all calculated.

The next one at 120 was just because I enjoyed watching the gangster scream like a child.

After he'd calmed down - and I'd assured him that his power would have prevented him from being harmed anyway - we went to get ourselves a pair of sandwiches; we were closer to dinner than to lunch and he assured me that he knew a place with excellent subs.

We were both enjoying our subs in the car when we heard someone tap on the window of one of the back doors and turned to see Meredith opening it and getting inside.

"Meredith?" Asked Oliver, quickly swallowing his mouthful of sandwich.

"Hello Oliver, James," She greeted us.

"Hello," I replied, putting my sandwich down behind the gear box. Call it irrational, but I didn't feel like eating in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"A situation came up: Livewire moved everything up to Sunday, which means that we need to up our schedule too."

Oliver almost choked on his sub. "Sunday? What did the boss say about it?"

"He didn't like it, but he expected her to pull something like this as a power play anyway, so we are going along with it for now." She pulled a piece of papper and a pen out of her purse and handed them to me. "I need you to sketch out your body to scale for the proportions: one from the front and one from the side. I also need your measurements."

"What for?" I asked as I began to sketch anyway.

"Clothes. You're making a public appearance and you're going to need to dress and act accordingly. That's the dress, and when you're finished we're going to teach you the act."

I finished sketching myself and all three of us stepped out of the car.

"Okay James, you already did some of this the other night in the ring, but now you need to actually internalize it. When you appear in public as working for our boss you can't be James, you have to be the person you were back at the ring," Meredith said. "In fact, as long as you keep silent and do as you're told you have that part hammered out. Your power will help you with everything else. The most important thing is that you present yourself as someone who commands respect. Your power will help you with that as well because it makes you move unnaturally."

"Unnaturally?" I asked.

"Yeah man, you do have some strange moves here and there," Oliver contributes to the conversation.

I honestly couldn't see where they were coming from: I never thought I did anything weird.

"It's the efficiency," Meredith explains. "Human beings don't do things efficiently; most of us are more concerned with the result ratherthen with how we get there, so when you use your power to do things as efficiently as possible, be it run, walk, or throw a punch, it shows. It adds a gracefulness to your movements; it's a lot like the difference between a ballet dancer spinning and Oliver doing the same. The dancer has that 'oomph' to their movements that speaks of skill and competence, but which most people only perceive subconsciously. When you apply your power to your movements you give out that same message, only in everything you do."

"I think I understand what you're trying to tell me." It reminded me a lot of what Cass told me about economy of movement not so long ago.

"I hope you do, because I don't actually have time to explain anything else," she said as she opened the driver's door and got back to the car, motioning for oliver to do the same before she then turned and spoke to me again, "In an ideal situation I would have been able to devote an hour to teaching you how to behave at the very least, but the rush means that my schedule is full, so this will have to suffice. Remember what's on the line if you ruin this."

She then closed the door and drove away, leaving me stranded in some strange part of the city and with no idea how to get home. It's a good thing that I left the sandwich in the car because I doubted I had much of an appetite after that.

-

I felt kind of self conscious when Marie told me that I'd better wear at least a button up shirt; Lisa had told me this was going to be a barbecue and who the hell wore a button up shirt to a barbecue?

Still, I listened to her and wore a sky blue button up shirt and a pair of jeans, and I was glad that I did, because Lisa's house was huge. The place was almost a small manor, with it's own gated entrance and I assumed that the backyard was as big as the front.

I mean, it was clearly too small to be a manor; the whole place occupied just about half the block, although admittedly it was a big block being in the nicest part of town, and the gate was almost unnecessary, almost making it seem like they were trying too hard.

Almost.

I knew Lisa's family had a lot of money, but this was middle-high class kind of money. The house was about three stories tall, and if I had to guess it had at least 2.678 times the surface area of my house in each floor.

Lisa was waiting for me by the gate, which was probably the reason why she'd told me to text her once I was about to arrive. She was wearing a yellow summer dress, taking advantage of the mild autumn weather. Her hair was done up in a short braid, and I noticed that's she'd lost some weight. It wasn't a lot, maybe only a hundred grams if I had to bet, but it was enough for my power to pick up on. I wondered for a second if I should comment on it. Did girls like it when you told them they looked thinner?

I had no idea, so I decided not to. If she wanted me to say something she would probably throw me a hint.

"Hey James!" She greeted me, waving her arm and opening the gate.

"Lisa," I said, "you look great." There, no comment on her weight.

"Thanks," She said, giggling, "You're looking pretty sharp yourself."

"Of course, I'm always looking sharp," I told her with fake hubris in my voice.

"Look who's got a big ego."

"Look who's got a small one. You told me this was going to be a barbecue!"

"It is a barbecue! And some other forms of cooking." At least she had the decency to look sheepish.

"Lisa, when you say barbecue it makes me think of your dad pumping the grill a little on the backyard; your house looks as if your backyard could be used to play a professional soccer match." I was exagerating, sure, but it was worth it for the quip. This is just to give the line a little more personality; just pointing out that it's an exageration is, in my opinion, a litle redundant.

"It's not that big! It's one of the smallest house in the area."

"I could have used the warning."

"I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to tell you without coming across like some bratty rich girl. I mean how would that come out? 'By the way my parents are giving a sophisticated get together in our backyard for their anniversary, want to come?'" She snorted. "Yeah right."

"Sophisticated get together?" I asked her.

"Sounds better than saying that they invited some friends to hang out with and a lot of work colleagues or business people to suck up to. Everyone seems to be enjoying the food tough, lemme show you around."

To Lisa's credit she didn't lie when she said that there was going to be a grill, she just failed to mention that the catering service her parents had hired included various other food tables and options.

I was enjoying the sushi, which wasn't actually that high quality as far as sushi goes, as well as my gossiping with Lisa on some rumors about the chemistry teacher so much that I didn't notice the group of men approaching from behind us until Lisa waved to one of them.

"Dad!" She squeaked, waving at him and beckoning him to come closer.

I turned to see man whose facial features and biometrics clearly spoke of a resemblance to Lisa, followed by another four men all of varying ages, but none of them looking younger than forty, and all of them wearing tailor made suits.

"Lisa! How are you enjoying the food?" He asked a smile in his face. He had the same blonde hair as Lisa combed back, his green eyes standing out against his comparatively pale skin. He had a charismatic air to him.

Lisa shrunk back a little at the question. "It's good I suppose."

Lisa's father then looked at me, "And I suppose you're James," he said, "Marcus Dauber, it's a pleasure to meet another of Lisa's friends. Don't worry too much about what I think of you, the bar isn't too high after last time," He said as we shook hands.

"Daaad." Lisa admonished him, clearly embarrassed.

"Though I can't help but notice that you're a boy," He continued, ignoring Lisa and not letting go of my hand, even pulling me closer. "I hope you don't have any untoward intentions with my daughter," He warned me.

If I were anyone else I might have felt cowed; the man was very expensively dressed compared to my jeans and button up shirt, this was his house, and we were surrounded by his friends and acquaintances, so by all means I was the odd one out here.

After last week I didn't even feel nervous.

However, I wasn't able to get a word out before one of the other men spoke up.

"Don't be so hard on James, Marcus. He's one of the smartest people I've met." He spoke softly but with confidence, despite the fact that I was sure I had never seen that man in my life.

"You know the boy?"

"Of course, he works for me after all. Meredith, my secretary, hired him as an intern after she learned how capable he was and I've to say that his results haven't disappointed at all."

My muscles tensed and I had a hard time not showing any obvious signs of distress. This black haired man, whose hair was graying on the sides, was my boss.

I was torn between my fight and flight reactions, part of me wanting to run away and the rest wanting to stab him with the chopsticks I held in my hand. I did nothing instead.

Marcus gave me one last look before letting me go. "Well, as long as you say so Silvio. Either way as I was telling you gentlemen..." He walked away with his group in tow, leaving Silvio, Lisa and me behind.

Silvio then turned to Lisa. "I'm sorry young Mrs Dauber, would you mind if I borrow my employee for a few minutes?" He put one of his hands on my shoulder, "I promise I'll bring him back in one piece."

Lisa looked at me for a cue to answer, and not knowing what else to do I flashed her a nervous smile. "Sure, I guess."

"Thank you." He said leading me away.

He waited until Lisa was far behind us before speaking again.

"So, we meet at last don't we James?" He spoke placidly, not with Meredith's serious tone but neither with Oliver's carefree one. A business casual I would call it. "I know it was a little unexpected to see me here, but I thought it would be a good chance to get to know each other on neutral ground."

Neutral ground, he said. We both knew that he was the one holding all the cards here.

"Did you know I would be coming?" I asked.

"Yes, Meredith told me. Although I didn't come just for you, Marcus had already invited me beforehand, he is interested in my connections to the union head that's been giving him trouble for the last month. Not that we haven't met before through other business, of course."

"What kind of business?"

"The more normal kind, I do have some legal enterprises to hold the fort should anything happen and to wash the greens." I assumed this was an euphemism for laundering money. "Marcus own the local shipping company, and we do business from time to time. Why? Are you interested in his daughter?"

"Lisa? She is attractive I guess."

"That she is. Poor girl though, I can't imagine it must have been easy growing up with her parents, a pair of social climbers if I've met one. Marcus isn't exactly father material."

"He looked alright to me," I defended the man. I didn't know what his point was, but I couldn't just stand and nod for everything he said, asking questions like an idiot.

"That's because he's a good liar, you'll learn how to tell given time." He replies and after a moment adds, "So what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About the job James, that's why we're talking right now. I know that the way things stand right now isn't too pleasing, but I meant it when I told to Meredith that I would like you to consider this as an actual job."

"Despite the extortion?" I asked, getting the feeling that he was a lot more reasonable than Meredith.

"That's… it's a thing I will admit. But it's not a Damocles' sword hanging over your head as much as it's a guarantee that you won't fly off, so to speak. You have seen it yourself: if you hold your end of the deal I hold mine. Your family is completely untouchable as long as you work for me. There's nothing to fear from me, I won't resort to that for anything less than the most extreme of the scenarios."

"Like me not working for you?"

"Yes James, but don't forget that working for me grants you protection both ways, your powers may not let you benchpress a car, but are nothing to scoff at in a fight either. There are many who would do a lot more to your family just to have you point a gun at their enemies."

I tried to come up with some rebuttal or to question him but he was right on that point: this may not be my best case scenario but it was far from being the worst one.

"What happens when you make me do it?" I asked emphasizing the you.

"I won't, killing isn't included in our usual businesses and even when it is I have other people to do the job who are a lot more experienced than you. The current status quo is quite beneficial to me and I have no need for you to run around as a soldier."

"I see." I said, having nothing else I wanted to ask him.

"James, I'm the kind of man that thinks that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar, if you would allow me and if the circumstances permit it I would rather show you the carrot than I would the stick," he told me, offering his hand for me to shake as if to seal the deal. "What do you say, would you work with me?"

I knew he was lying, there wasn't any real answer to that question but yes, not if I wanted my family to be safe. All this was just some kind of facade or pretension; his wording had made it very clear that the question wasn't if he would force me to do something horrible, it was when.

Even so, I shook his hand and I smiled when I did. Because it didn't matter it if was just to trick me, or if he did it to be able to have a semblance of civility between us, or even if he really believed what he said. In the end it was as much mercy as I would get from him, because he was right: it could be worse.

"Great, it will be a pleasure to work along side you James. Now I think we'd better head back, they seem to be about to cut the cake."

We had walked a little further away from everyone, almost to the limit of the backyard, so we could only see that people were gathering back together. There was a sort of nervous energy on everyone and it clearly wasn't because of the cake. By the time we had gotten close enough to see, people were running around the whole property like headless chickens. We stopped another guest to ask what had happened.

He told us that the Daubers' house had been burgled in the middle of the party, the thief had taken a certain painting and jewelry accessory which seemed to be very valuable, and the guests were spreading across the block trying to find the thief.

"I know the objects he was talking about," Silvio told me once the man had ran off, "They're heirlooms that Marcus' parents left him, and could fetch a hundred grand each with the right buyer. Other than the house, they're probably the most expensive things the Daubers own."

"What do we do?"

"What else? We split up and look for the thief like everybody else."

I nodded and we each went our separate ways. I didn't know where the thief could have gone so I simply made note of not going to where I had seen someone else go as to try and spread the crowd further.

I was three blocks away when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned my head expecting to see someone all I saw was the empty road. I almost moved on before I noticed it again, now in the corner of my other eye. I had gone past it, but when I looked it was just the empty road again.

I would have missed it a second time, had it not shifted. My power manifested itself as mathematical notations unfolded across my view, but like a continuous sound in the background I was able to tune out the exact numbers of my awareness unless I actively paid attention to them or something happened to make them change very fast.

In this case something had happened: it was very slight, but air currents acted a certain way depending on pressure, temperature, and a myriad of other factors, in most occasions the equations for that simply 'flowed along'. I couldn't describe it but that's how it felt, so it was easy to note when something disturbed them.

More so when they seemed to be disturbed by themselves with no objects that could cause the disturbance.

The numbers for many of the variables seemed to simply...change in that little pocket of air, pressure was suddenly higher or lower, slight shiftings coming from nowhere.

Something was going on there, the disturbance didn't become any neater when I focused on it, so very slowly I took a quarter out of my pocket and threw it at the disturbance.

The coin's fall was affected by the disturbance too, I don't know if it was because of the staring effect acting on the air or on the coin, but many of the physical equations had small incongruencies as the coin fell.

Just as I moved to pick up the coin the disturbance visibly moved, and fast. Forgetting the coin I ran behind it, tailing it across the street and gaining on it, but as it neared the end of the block it just turned straight past a gate and into a house forcing me to run around the block in order to catch up to it.

Predictably it gained a lot of ground, but I managed to have it come right into my field of vision again, just as it slammed into a van, which sped off barely 5.89032 seconds later.

I didn't even try to follow it, tough I did make a note of the plate number before going back to Lisa's house.

Back there the police was already at the scene, quite fast but given how rich the whole neighborhood was it didn't surprise me.

From there the whole night simply went along its course, for obvious reasons I didn't manage to see Lisa again, though she sent me a text telling me that she was sorry that the evening went like this and that I should go home, the police simply asked for everyone's contact information only asking very few people to stay to make a statement. I didn't know if I was let go because I was a minor or because I wasn't anywhere important at any time important, obviously I kept quiet about the disturbance since I couldn't explain it without explaining I had powers.

-

I was just about to take the bus home when a black car rolled into view. I recognized the model as the same one that Oliver drove, so I didn't hesitate in opening the passenger door.

"Would you mind at least driving me somewhere closer to home?"

"Get in, I will get you there; people already think you work for me so it doesn't matter if your parents say anything."

I let myself in next to Silvio.

"That was quite a way to end the night," he said once we were a couple of blocks away. "I certainly didn't expect the Cat to make an appearance."

"The Cat?" I asked.

"Yes, the new thief in town. They've been appearing on the news recently performing various burglaries in broad daylight and in crowded places whilst not being seen, no matter how impossible that seems to be. I know that at least some of the other gangs in town are trying to find them."

"They have powers?"

"It seems so. There aren't many other explanations for how they managed to perform any of the robberies otherwise. I know for a fact that the painting was too big to be taken out of any of the doors or windows without being seen."

"Except they weren't seen," I said as I realized something. "I think I managed to catch a glimpse of them."

Silvio pulled over and looked at me with a serious expression.

"Tell me everything."

So I explained to the best of my abilities what I had seen and gave him the plate number. He was smiling by the time I finished and we began moving again.

"James, obviously not a word of this to anyone," he told me. "Other than that, your recruitment is already starting to pay for itself."

"How so?"

"The Cat has angered some of the other bosses, most likely they've stolen something from each but I still don't know what. The others would pay out ten grand each for this information, but with the license plate as well? I could get them to cough up a hundred."

"So you see," He said. "You just gave me a great deal of leverage." 


End file.
